Several bylaws governing the AIADMK were amended by the general council of the AIADMK (Amma, PTA) on Tuesday. The amendments have essentially made the coordinator and co-coordinator posts the most powerful positions within the party, in place of the general secretary — a post that has been abolished.
As per the amendments to the bylaws, incumbents of the two posts will exercise jointly the powers of making not more than 100 persons members of the general council, calling meetings of the general council, making appointments to various positions in the party such as treasurer, headquarters secretaries and members of the parliamentary board (not exceeding 15) and changing or relaxing the rules. The organisational elections will be carried out as per the regulations laid down by the two key office-bearers.
However, unlike in the case of the previous arrangement, whereby the general secretary would be elected only by the primary members of the party, under the amended bylaws, the members of the general council would elect the coordinator and the co-coordinator. The key condition here is that the occupants of the posts should have been members of the party for five years consecutively.
The new method of electing the coordinator and the co-cordinator has apparently been implemented in the light of the controversy that arose over the appointment of V.K. Sasikala as interim general secretary. At the time, it was pointed out that Sasikala’s appointment was not valid as she was not elected by all primary members of the party.
Direct supervision
Various wings of the party have been brought under the direct supervision of the coordinator and the co-coordinator, who will also have the power to decide on the initiation of disciplinary action against members of the party.
The strength of the property protection committee of the party has gone up from five to six.
Twenty-two rules out of a total of 46 have been changed through a resolution adopted at the general council.
‘No collective leadership’
When asked about the new norm that the members of the general council, and not all the primary members of the party, would elect the coordinator and the co-coordinator, party spokesperson K. Selvaraj justified the amendment, saying, “The general council members are, after all, representatives of the primary members of the party.”
He also denied the suggestion that the party would hereafter have “collective leadership.”
His point was that the two key office-bearers would function in unison and cohesively.
