Former Home Minister Robert G Lyngdoh has said that a government that does well and addresses issues concerning the people deserves support of the opposition.
“One cannot always just point fingers. What is good should be supported and what is bad should be opposed and none should blindly support any government that does not perform,” he told Highland Post recently.
On the claims that the MDA government has done much more than the Congress, he said, “I see the MDA government is making the right noises. If they take the right steps in the right direction to address the various issues we should support them. But if they are only making noises just to fool the public then we also have to bring it to a public dispensation that we cannot trust them.”
He further said that if the MDA government keeps comparing itself and saying that Congress has done nothing then the MDA achievement also means nothing.
“You should compare yourself to somebody who has done something and not to someone who has done nothing,” he added.
Lyngdoh recalled how Chief Minister Conrad Sangma claims to solve the issue of Them Ïew Mawlong in one week and said, “This was the first noise made by the MDA. How many weeks have now passed?
On the boundary issue that the government aims to solve within Christmas, Lyngdoh questioned, “The chief minister should specify whether he is talking about Christmas 2021, 2022, or which Christmas? Whatever the MDA has claimed, if it can be done then it is good. But it has to be done equitably and not at the expense of anybody.”
“If the MDA is saying they will improve tourism and turn to high-end tourism then what happens to the small person who has invested in the ‘Bed and Breakfast’, Dhaba, taxi, etc. Should we forget about them and bring in only the big people who will make five stars hotel, etc,” he said, adding, the anxieties faced by a different section of the people, unemployment faced by the youth, the market, and rates to assist the farmers, to boost the rural economy should also be addressed at the ground level and not just social media.
Asking if the farmer’s income and productivity have improved, or if the livestock farmers are getting good breeds and medication and links to markets, he asked, “What support has been given to the small entrepreneurs. If you say that MDA has made better roads then have the small contractors benefited from it or is it just the contractors and companies who are in close contact with people in power benefitting?
