Kohima, October 9 (MExN): The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has condemned the statement of the “NPF Legislature Party” against the Nagaland Legislative Assembly Speaker that appeared in the local dailies on October 7.
In a rejoinder statement issued by its Media & Communication Committee, the NDPP said, “The Naga Peoples Front and its Legislature Wing should be the last ones that have a right to question the actions of the present Speaker of NLA.”
The party criticized NPF of manipulating “the 12th house of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly by using the office of the then Speaker of the House to their maximum advantage.”
The NDPP mentioned that “in one of the sessions of the last House, one of the Members was made to raise a certain issue aimed at tarnishing the image of another member who also happened to be a member of the Treasury Bench during zero hour.” It, then said “the member being attacked was not allowed to speak in his own defense,” and opined that “In any democratic government across nations, members of both the opposition and the treasury benches are allowed to raise questions on the floor of the House if they feel it is for the benefit of the people without going against the policies of the government in the case of those members of the treasury bench.”
Slamming NPF of criticizing NLA Speaker for “not giving enough time for question hour during the last sitting of the NLA in September,” the NDPP recalled the NPF Legislature Party of the “historic” 15 minutes NLA sitting in 2016 wherein “no order of business was conducted other than the Speaker calling the House to order and immediately adjourning the House.”
The NDPP, therefore, condemning the statement of the NPF Legislature Party said, “While the Speaker's office is a neutral body, it will not tolerate such disrespect to an office that is revered by everyone and particularly since the office of the Speaker of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly is also the face of the State.”
