SUNGAI PETANI, 31 Mar 2009: The dramatic departure of B Kalaivanar from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is no loss to the party, supreme council member Dr A Xavier Jayakumar said.
“Good luck to Kalaivanar, and good luck to Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) now that they have Kalaivanar on their side,” he said today at a PKR press conference.
Xavier Asked whether the former Jerai PKR chief quit the party because he was not selected as PKR’s candidate to contest in Bukit Selambau, Xavier said, “If he’s disappointed that’s his business, not ours.”
Xavier said that party members should acquiesce and support whomever the party chose to field in an elections.
He also doubted that any other local PKR leader would be following in Kalaivanar’s footsteps, or that Kalaivanar’s decision would affect support for the party.
“Kalaivanar is from the Jerai division, not from Bukit Selambau. We’ve met with the local Indian [Malaysian] community, and their support for us is unaffected by his decision,” said Xavier.
He also questioned Kalaivanar’s timing in announcing his decision to quit the party during the Bukit Selambau by-election campaigning period.
“He has been contributing for a long time to the party, and was one of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s strong supporters, and there was no problem all this while, so why quit now?” said Xavier.
Xavier also said that Kalaivanar had no power to dissolve the Jerai PKR division.
“That is a decision for the party’s secretary-general to make,” he said.
He also challenged Kalaivanar to prove that 500 other Kedah PKR members had left the party, as some reports have stated.
“I only saw 20 supporters at his press conference, not 500,” said Xavier.
Xavier, however, said that he respected Kalaivanar’s, or any other member’s, right to quit the party. 
abubaker says
In the old days, barking race-based “issues” could gain support. After all, people called them “leaders” of some race.
But now, the game has changed. People no longer accept players who only grab the spotlight and try to “outshine” others.
Instead, people look for leaders who can energise teams, and do not intimidate his or her own team.
True leaders always spark off others to perform by working together as a team.They do not shout or embarrass their team members.
Numbers can cause trouble to any organisation if the values of commitment and teamwork are not prioritised.
A false leader in mind is a false leader in action.
mukmin says
It’s only fair. The last time we had Kalaivanar. This time round, let Umno/BN have him. And good luck to them.
Tommy says
Kalai, if you are so good, please raise Kugan’s (death in police custody) issue and ask why aren’t the culprits charged yet? Maybe this will score you some points, eh?