S.A.VigneswaranChairman, Malaysian Indian Youth Development Foundation (MIYDF)

KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC central working committee will deliberate on party Youth chief S.A. Vigneswaran’s contention that he and several Youth leaders need not vacate their posts although they had passed the age limit of 40.

Secretary-general Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the CWC would discuss Vigneswaran’s interpretation of the MIC constitution.

“The CWC made a decision two weeks ago that Youth leaders who have passed 40 or have reached their 41st birthday cannot hold positions in the Youth wing.

“We are just implementing the decision made according to the MIC constitution. All those affected by the ruling will be informed,” he said after handing over RM39,500 to 10-year-old Shaveena Ragavan who will undergo surgery in Australia. The girl is suffering from multiple haemangiomas which require specialised treatment.

Last week, the CWC asked Vigneswaran and several Youth leaders to vacate their positions due to the age limit.

Vigneswaran argued that the CWC’s interpretation of the constitution was inaccurate.

He has been at loggerheads with the party leadership since the March 8 general election and had not attended the last three CWC meetings. – Bernama

Source : The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC Youth chief S. Vigneswaran, who has been asked to vacate his post, said the party’s constitution did not say that a youth leader must give up his position on reaching the age of 41.

He said Act 20.2 4A and 4B only stated that one could contest for the post of youth chief up to the age of 41.

“Moreover, Article 47 states that all elected leaders shall stay in office for three years. Nowhere in the constitution does it say that a youth leader must leave when he reaches his 41st birthday,” he said.

On Friday, MIC secretary-general Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam was quoted as saying that the party’s constitution clearly stated that a youth leader or a member in the youth wing should not exceed the age of 40.

“This means that when they reach their 41st birthday, they need to vacate their positions in the youth wing,” Dr Subramaniam, who is Human Resources Minister, had said.

However, a central working committee (CWC) member had commented that although the constitution was unclear on the age ruling, it had been decided at a CWC meeting in 2001 that everyone in the youth wing should vacate their posts on reaching 41.

Some members believed that the move to ask Vigneswaran to vacate his post was politically motivated. They claimed it was initiated by party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu to “kill off” Vigneswaran.

Vigneswaran, who used to be Samy Vellu’s blue-eyed boy, was said to have fallen out of favour with the president. A source said the rift between the two could have started over the selection of the candidate for the Ijok by-election last year.

Others said Vigneswaran was aligned to deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel and was unhappy over former deputy Datuk S. Subramaniam making a comeback.

It is said that Vigneswaran had hoped that Palanivel would become the next party president and he would be the deputy. With Subramaniam back in mainstream politics, his hopes had been dashed.

Sources claimed that Vigneswaran was upset as there was no clear plan of succession and there had been confusion among members following the return of Subramaniam.

He was also said to have instigated “Jumbo” Maniam and Alex Thiagarasan to question Samy Vellu.

Vigneswaran said the rumour could have started because he was against the expulsion of “Jumbo” Maniam. “Jumbo” and Alex, whom he had recruited into MIC from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) years ago, are also friends.

Denying all the accusations hurled at him, Vigneswaran said he had always been a party loyalist.

He also denied being involved with a rumoured Makkal Sakthi-linked rally aimed at pressuring Samy Vellu to step down.

Vigneswaran said if he was going against Samy Vellu, he did not need the support of Makkal Sakthi.

“I have my own force but I am not willing to do it because I am loyal to the party,” he said, adding that his suspicion was that someone from within MIC was trying get him into trouble.

By : Suganthi Suparmaniam and R. S. Kamini. Source : NST

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC Youth chief S.A. Vigneswaran has declared that he will not bow to calls by the party leadership to vacate his position due to the age cap factor, at least not until he seeks legal opinion on the matter.

The 43-year-old former Kota Raja MP said yesterday that he would study the legal opinion on a clause in the party constitution which appears to be open to interpretation.

Once this is done, he will present it to the central working committee (CWC), the party’s decision-making body to review the decision. Source : NST

Asked about his next move if the party was adamant that he stepped down, Vigneswaran said for now, he was taking the matter one step at a time.

Two weeks ago, the CWC had asked Vigneswaran and several other leaders of the wing to vacate their posts after passing the 40-year age limit.

 

THE Youth and Sports Ministry is in constant dialogue with the Football Association of Malaysia to find ways to raise the standard of Malay- sian football.

The ministry’s parliamentary secretary S.A. Vignes- waran said this in reply to a question by Datuk Azian Osman yesterday.

He agreed with the senator that the standard of football in the country had deteriorated.

“But it is still the most popular sport,” he added.

“That is why the cabinet committee on sports has identified it as one of eight sports to be given attention.”
Vigneswaran said the sala- ries of national football players were paid by the FAM.

The ministry paid the under-20 squad. It spent RM2 million on the squad last year.

Vigneswaran said the ministry, through the National Sports Council and the Football Association of Malaysia, ran several football training programmes at the grassroots level.

He said the FAM and NSC were setting up more centres for soccer excellence in districts and states.

The programmes also ca- tered to primary and secondary school students.

Complementing these programmes are age group tournaments, like the President’s Cup, for those aged between 20 and 21, and the Youth Cup, for those between 18 and 19.

He said those who trained and played under these programmes eventually went on to the Malaysian League.

On a lighter note, senate president Tan Sri Hamid Pawanteh told Senator Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain that there was no need for a woman coach for the national team as Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said was good enough to get the sport moving.

SUMBER : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, 22 MEI 2007