With the camps in the AIADMK, led by coordinator O. Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami, sticking to their guns on the issue of single leadership versus dual leadership, the focus has turned to the possible impact of the December 2021 amendments to the AIADMK’s bylaws on the creation of a post above the two top positions.
According to the amendments, candidates for the two posts will be elected through a single vote, and the rule that the primary members will elect them is beyond change and correction. The general council has the authority to relax, or provide an exemption from, any rule, but it has no authority to amend or relax the rule governing the mode of election of the coordinator and the co-coordinator — it is the primary members who will elect the two.
Senior leaders say Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami were elected in December last year under the new system and they will hold their posts for five years and remain the authorised signatories of the party for nominating any one as a party candidate in elections to Parliament, the Assembly and the local bodies. Under these circumstances, any move to create a post above them or revive the post of general secretary may attract litigation.
Besides, even if any such post gets created or revived because of the decision of the general council, the party’s principle of electing a person for the post by the primary members will apply. In that case, the poll process has to be initiated. The appointment of an interim incumbent will only be viewed as a “weak decision”, the leaders explain.
Asked what would happen if a majority of the district secretaries take a decision in support of single leadership at the general council meeting scheduled for June 23, deputy coordinator R. Vaithilingam told reporters outside Mr. Panneerselvam’s residence in Chennai that the election for the posts of coordinator and co-coordinator could not be rescinded by the general council. Only in the event of death could a person be appointed as an interim arrangement. The move to annul the election would not only be “illegal” but would also pave the way for “destruction” of the party, he said.
Earlier, M. Thambi Durai, the party’s propaganda secretary, who met Mr. Palaniswami in Salem on Thursday, held discussions with Mr. Panneerselvam in Chennai. Mr. Vaithilingam said the coordinator had given his feedback to the views of the propaganda secretary, who was expected to brief the co-coordinator.
A key member of the Palaniswami camp said as a “compromise formula,” barring the post of general secretary, Mr. Panneerselvam had been offered a post with greater powers, whereas a member of the Panneerselvam group says such an offer will have no takers when Mr. Panneerselvam is one of the authorised signatories of the party.
