Mawlai MLA Process T Sawkmie has confirmed that he will contest the 2023 state election on a United Democratic Party (UDP) ticket.
Speaking to Highland Post recently, Sawkmie, one of five suspended Congress Party legislators, said that national parties hold no interest for him any more.
“I have seen that national parties do not dare take up the issues concerning the jaitbynriew unlike regional parties such as the UDP, who understand the issues and problems of our people and the problems faced by the state. This is one of the reasons I have decided to choose the UDP,” he said.
The party’s, as yet informal, acceptance of Sawkmie as its candidate has not sat well with a few of its Mawlai members, such as former MLA Embhahlang Syiemlieh, who lost to Sawkmie in the 2018 election. He and a few of his supporters quit the UDP last month, though the exact reason was not provided.
When asked about the allegations that the UDP has failed to take up various issues as a coalition partner in the current government, Sawkmie said, “It will be a different matter if I am elected again as an MLA this time from the UDP because the issue concerning the jaitbynriew cannot be neglected.”
