Kohima, October 6 (MExN): The NPF Legislature Party today expressed unhappiness on the performance of the Speaker of the Assembly “who failed to apply his wisdom and keep the August House in order and who rather seemed to be remotely controlled which led to mismanagement of the decorum of the House.”
The NPF Legislature Party, during a meeting held on October 6 at the Dimapur residence of the Leader of Opposition, reviewed the 2nd Assembly Session held on September 18 and 20 and decided to “set the record straight.”
A press release issued by the Information & Publicity Wing of NPF stated that the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in NLA, the Question Hour was to be allotted 1 hour, however, the Speaker permitted only 8 minutes” as the speaker had clubbed the two items of the business listed for that day. This, the NPF claims is “nothing but intentional shying away from their responsibility to answer the questions raised by the opposition bench”.
NPF also observed that the conduct of the Officials of the Assembly secretariat was also not aboveboard while tendering advice and guidance to the Speaker. “The NPF members feel that such differential attitude towards the Opposition should not be repeated in the future so that the dignity of the August House is upheld in right spirit,” it stated.
NPF also alleged those specific questions were intentionally not answered by the Leader of the House. These includes “Why the government did not file an affidavit to counter the claim of Civil Engineers Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. (CEEPL)?” and “Why the State government did not challenge to vacate the stay order?”
“The Leader of the House gave only the excuse that, all the advocates in Kolkata are “purchasable” by Ghosal & Co. which is un-parliamentary language and also undermines and outrages the integrity of the legal community in West Bengal. The speaker should have expunged this but to our total dismay no appropriate action was taken,” it stated further.
On the issue of the Citizenship Bill 2016 and the Brahmaputra Board, NPF alleged that the Speaker “arbitrarily omitted it, citing reason that it is not a State subject but a Central subject. Such erroneous judgment is unprecedented and must be avoided in future. These issues are not only a matter for the elected members but encompass the future of each and every citizen of the State in general and the Nagas in particular.”
NPF also stated that it “is utterly amused and disgusted by the pack of lies contained in the press release issued by the NDPP Media and Communications Committee on October 4” and expressed its “firm and steadfast” support to the leader of the House TR Zeliang and NPF President Shürhozelie Liezietsu.
