The Congress Party has strong reasons on why Speaker of the Assembly, Metbah Lyngdoh, should be removed, senior legislator Ampareen Lyngdoh said today, but the opposition is remaining shtum on exactly what these reasons are.
The Congress last week moved a resolution to dismiss Metbah (of the United Democratic Party) from the Speaker’s chair. Yesterday, fellow UDP member Bindo Lanong said that the only reason he could think for the Congress to pursue such a course is because it has gone mad and restless after being out of power for the past three years.
Responding to this, Ampareen maintained that her party is following proper procedure in its move to oust Metbah but will not divulge its reasons.
Reminding the UDP that it had done the same thing when it was in opposition, she said, “We never reacted or shouted when the UDP did the same thing because the procedures of rule and conduct of business does not ask for such a reason. The UDP should have patience and wait to hear about it in the Assembly session.”
She maintained that the Congress may be weak in numbers but it has a solid reason for the resolution they have moved against the Speaker.
“If we have queries against the Speaker, I don’t think there is any problem because the rules and procedures permit us to do so. Just because the UDP is in the government, any steps taken by us cannot be termed as being power-hungry,” the East Shillong MLA said.
She also ridiculed the statement made by Lanong that the Congress betrayed the people on the Inner Line Permit (ILP) issue by asking, “Why did the UDP not raise this issue when they were working together with the Congress Party as coalition partner in the previous government (prior to 2013)?”
