KP Pangniang on Tuesday took over as the new President of Hill State People’s Democratic Alliance (HSPDP) replacing Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit.
KP Pangniang was the Vice-President of the party.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the HSPDP held at the MLA Hostel conference hall here on Tuesday evening.
Pangniang told reporters that apart from accepting the resignation of the party President, the party has also decided to continue extending support to the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government being led by the National People’s Party (NPP).
It was on March 6 that Basaiawmoit decided to resign as the party President owing moral responsibility for the HSPDP’s defeat as well as the party’s inability to stop its two MLAs from supporting the MDA government.
Basaiawmoit had said, “It was of no meaning to lead the party when as a party we cannot rein in our MLAs.”
Pangniang said that meeting has accepted the resignation of the President, and according to the constitution of the party, the Vice-President has to take charge as acting President.
He also said that defeat of the HSPDP in the Assembly polls was a responsibility that all leaders should take and not the responsibility of the President alone.
Pangniang also said that the party was of the view that the two MLAs should support the MDA government by giving priority to issues raised by the party and it should not be a blind support.
He said that the two MLAs of the HSPDP would take up issues of the party with the government and fight along with the party for the implementation of issues such as implementation of inner-line permit, find solution to the inter-State boundary dispute with Assam and not to allow the proposed uranium mining to happen.
The HSPDP has two MLAs – Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar and Samlin Malngiang. Malngiang is the PHE Minister of the MDA government.
Tongkhar also said that by being part of the government, the HSPDP would raise and discuss issues of the party within the government, and pressurize the government to implement those for the interest of the people.
Tongkhar also said that a common minimum programme of the MDA government would be brought out for implementation in which issues of various parties would be incorporated.
“An MDA committee on common minimum programme headed by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma was formed, and a sub-committee headed by UDP senior leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Bindo M Lanong is also working on a draft common minimum programme of all parties supporting the coalition government. We hope that the MDA government will have its common minimum programme soon,” Tongkhar said.