OPS wants to continue the system of dual leadership, which it currently shares with EPS.
Chennai:
The Madras High Court will today hear a plea by AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam (or OPS) seeking to stall the July 11 meeting of the party’s general council convened by the opposition camp led by joint coordinator E Palaniswami (or EPS). Went. This comes a day after the OPS received a setback from the Supreme Court as it tries to prevent its EPS from taking over Tamil Nadu’s main opposition party, the AIADMK.
The EPS wants to do away with the dual leadership it shares with the OPS – and bring back the post of a supreme general secretary – by amending the bylaws through the General Council, the party’s major decision-making body. The OPS wants the current system to continue and has already moved the High Court, which on June 23 ordered a stay on the meeting or any “undeclared” resolutions. That halt was lifted by the Supreme Court yesterday, effectively allowing the meeting.
The Supreme Court, in its interim order, asked the OPS faction to present its case in two weeks.
Now, the OPS will again expect relief from the High Court as they have sought a complete stay of the July 11 meeting.
The OPS fears a takeover by the EPS as last month’s General Council did not ratify the dual leadership election.
The two leaders are acting according to the ceasefire adopted five years ago, as factionalism threatened to break the party after the death of then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December 2016. The party has since lost power, and has been met with infighting. Not as bad as it was.