S. Sothinathan

In this Indian name, the name Sinna Goundar is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Sothinathan. The abbreviation "s/o" or "d/o", if used, means "son of" or "daughter of" respectively.

Yang Berbahagia Dato' Sothinathan Sinna Goundar DSNS
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment
In office 27 March 2004 – 18 March 2008
Monarchs	Sirajuddin Mizan Zainal Abidin
Prime Minister	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Minister	Adenan Satem (2004–2006) Azmi Khalid (2006–2008)
Preceded by	Zainal Dahlan (Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Environment)
Succeeded by	Maznah Mazlan
Constituency	Telok Kemang
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Telok Kemang
In office 10 June 2000 – 8 March 2008
Preceded by	S. A. Anpalagan (BN–MIC)
Succeeded by	Kamarul Baharin Abbas (PR–PKR)
Majority	5,972 (2000) 17,777 (2004)
Personal details
Born	Sothinathan s/o Sinna Goundar (1960-04-04) 4 April 1960 (age 64)
Nationality	Malaysian
Political party	Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) (–2018)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN) –2018)

Sothinathan s/o Sinna Goundar (Tamil: எஸ். சோதிநாதன், romanized: Es. Cōtinātaṉ; born 4 April 1960) or known as S. Sothinathan, is a Malaysian Politician of Indian Tamil origin. He was also vice-president of the Malaysian Indian Congress, a component party of the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition. He was formerly the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

Early life

Sothinathan was born on 4 April 1960.^[1]

Political career

Sothinathan made his first electoral debut in 2000 Telok Kemang by-election following death of its MP S. A. Anpalagan on 10 June 2000.^[2] He successfully elected as MP for Telok Kemang in 2004 general election. In 2005, Sothinathan was temporarily suspended for his criticism of the Barisan Nasional government during parliamentary debate when he got up to argue the fate of many Malaysian Indian medical students in Ukraine who were left stranded when their university was derecognized by the Government of Malaysia.^[3] His actions were criticised by many BN leaders but won much praise by Malaysian Indians, who saw him as fighting for their rights.

However, he lost his Teluk Kemang parliamentary seat in 2008 Malaysian general elections, which saw the ruling coalition losing 82 parliamentary seats out of 222 seats to the opposition.^[4]

In 2018, Sothinathan announced his campaign for PKR President and Leader of Pakatan Harapan Anwar Ibrahim in the Port Dickson by-election.^[5] He also stated that he had already quit MIC.^[6][7]

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia^[8]^[9]^[10]

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballot casts	Majority	Turnout
2000	P119 Telok Kemang		Sothinathan Sinna Goundar (MIC)	24,500	56.94%		Ruslan Kasim (keADILan)	18,528	43.06%	44,079	5,972	66.14%
2004	P132 Telok Kemang		Sothinathan Sinna Goundar (MIC)	28,494	72.67%		Ab Manap Sahardin (PKR)	10,717	27.33%	41,189	17,777	72.95%
2008			Sothinathan Sinna Goundar (MIC)	20,544	46.17%		Kamarul Baharin Abbas (PKR)	23,348	52.48%	46,613	2,804	77.45%
							Mohd Rashid Arshad (IND)	601	1.35%

Honours

•  Negeri Sembilan :
  • Knight Companion of the Order of Loyalty to Negeri Sembilan (DSNS) – Dato' (2004)^[11]

References

1. "Sothinathan Sinna Goundar". pru.sinarharian.com.my.
2. "Sothinanthan is BN's Teluk Kemang candidate" (PDF). lib.perdana.org.my. 23 May 2000.
3. "Sothinathan suspended from Deputy Minister's post". The Star. 22 June 2005. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
4. "Midnight win in Negri for BN". The Star. 9 March 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
5. "Former MIC VP Sothinathan campaigns for Anwar in PD". www.malaymail.com.
6. "Sothinathan says he is no longer with MIC". www.nst.com.my.
7. "Saya sudah keluar MIC - Sothinathan". www.bharian.com.my.
8. "Malaysia Decides 2008". The Star (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
9. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
10. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
11. "CARIAN PENERIMA DARJAH KEBESARAN / BINTANG / PINGAT TAHUN 1981 - 2010". ipingatns.ns.gov.my.