SHILLONG, MAR 29: Even as the opposition Meghalaya Parliamentary Forum-MPF- demanded the immediate dismiss of the Congress led MUA coalition government has sought Governor’s intervention to re-conduct the vote on the motion for the removal of Speaker as it alleged that it was subjected to “manipulative exercise” by the chief minister.
The MPF alleged that chief minister undertook manipulative exercise by pressurizing the deputy speaker Sanbor Shullai of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to resign on March 23 and subsequently reconstituted panel of chairmen through the Speaker on March 24 to ease out inconvenient Martin Danggo from the panel of chairmen and to substitute him by chief minister’s wife Dikkanchi D Shira, who is also a legislator.
The motion for removal of the Assembly Speaker Abu Taher Mondal was defeated through voice vote on the last day of the budget session on March 25.
In the petition submitted to the Governor on March 27, MPF leader Donkupar Roy and Secretary James K Sangma said, “The motion for removal of Speaker is not merely guided by the Rules of Procedure of the House but emanates as a source of strength to neutrality of the office of the Speaker from the provisions of the Constitution.”
According to them, therefore the actions of the Speaker (in accepting the resignation of the Deputy Speaker and reconstituting the Panel of Chairmen) and the actions of the Chairman (Ronnie Lyngdoh) in rejecting the demand for division by the mover of the motion James K. Sangma, cannot be conveniently covered under parliamentary privileges under article 194 read with article 212 which talks about “irregularity”.
“The violations are so grave and endangers the very democracy in which the office of the Speaker is critical for its survival, these actions being blatantly “unconstitutional and illegal” shall have to be remedied by gubernatorial intervention, failing which, judicial castigation,” the MPF leaders stated.
Seeking for immediate intervention, they urged the Governor to call for the print and video records of the Assembly on March 25, the records of the receipt, processing and acceptance of the resignation of the Deputy Speaker and the records of the appointment of the old and new panel of Chairmen.
“We also urged not to prorogue the House until justice to the movers of the motion for removal of Speaker is provided by you, failing which, by the competent court,” the opposition leaders said.
Demanding the Governor to direct the Speaker to rescind the acceptance of the resignation of the Deputy Speaker, restore the old Panel of Chairmen, the MPF leader said, “We urged the Governor to re-conduct the vote on the motion for removal of Speaker with opportunity to all MLAs to record their vote.”
However they said, “in case the rescission of the acceptance of the resignation of Deputy Speaker is impossible, to appoint another impartial member of the House, especially an independent MLA, to preside over the proceedings on the motion for removal of Speaker since the office of Deputy Speaker is vacant and Article 180(2) cannot be practiced but only article 180(1).”
Meanwhile, the MPF also sought the immediate dismiss of the MUA led government headed by the incumbent Chief Minister.
“We urged the immediate dismiss of the Government headed by present Chief Minister for making a mockery of the Constitutional processes in the House by pressuring the Deputy Speaker to resign, by nominating his own wife to the Panel of Chairmen, by protecting his protégé in the Office of Speaker by not allowing a Division in the House on the Motion for Removal of Speaker and for murdering democracy at all levels,” they stated in the petition.- By Our Reporter
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