Winnable or not, Samy Vellu will not be a candidate

In less than 48 hours after claiming he was a winnable candidate if fielded in the coming general elections, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu suffered defeat when his hopes of making a comeback was dashed.

His party, the MIC, has confirmed that he will not be a candidate.

The confirmation came from party president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel in a text message to Bernama.

Palanivel acknowledged that Samy Vellu, the Barisan Nasional (BN) coordinator for Sungai Siput, had been hard at work to ensure that the BN wrested back the seat which he lost in the 2008 elections.

"Datuk Seri Samy Vellu has been working hard in Sungai Siput to garner support from the people...but he will not be a candidate," said Palanivel's message Friday.

Samy Vellu had confidently declared that he was candidate material in GE13, following the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat announced on Wednesday.

"I am a winnable candidate, there's no doubt about it. I am willing to re-contest the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat," Samy Vellu had declared here on Wednesday.

He was the member of parliament for Sungai Siput for more than three decades since 1974, until he lost to Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj of the Socialist Party Malaysia (PSM) by a 1,821-vote majority.

Winnable candidates is one of the main criteria set by top BN leaders in choosing its candidates.

Samy Vellu was also the MIC president for nearly three decades until Palanivel succeeded him in 2010.

On the seat allocation for MIC, Palanivel said the party looked set to contest in nine parliamentary seats and 19 state seats.

"We are still negotating to swap two state seats in Perak and one in Johor with other Barisan Nasional parties," he said.

According to media reports, the MIC would give up the Behrang and Pasir Panjang seats and instead take up Buntong, which consists of a 48 per cent Indian population, and another seat, which was being negotiated.