Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu has repeatedly claimed that he is not an ambitious man. This statement is the height of hypocrisy as it was he who, on several occasions had stated that he has accepted the office of the Chief Minister only for a period of two to three months and also that he will not destroy his son’s career. Yet Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu has now directly contradicted that very statement by making his son Shri Khriehu Liezietsu vacate his Assembly seat (10 Northern 1 A.C) in order to allow himself to file his nomination in contesting the by elections for the very same Assembly Constituency so that he can cling to the chair of the Chief Minister till the General Elections scheduled for 2018 and perhaps even beyond. His refusal to summon the Assembly to prove his majority on the floor of the House is itself proof that he is an imposter Chief Minister of the State who does not command the support of the majority of the members of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly which is yet again another glaring example of his lies and deceit and his ambition as a power monger.
He has claimed that the present crisis is an internal matter of the NPF Party and therefore the Hon’ble Governor of Nagaland has got no business to interfere in the matters of the Party. If that is the case then why and under what authority has he sacked 4 Cabinet Ministers and 10 Parliamentary Secretaries who have taken the oath of office under the Constitution of India which is very much a legally constituted Governmental activity and not the internal matter of a political Party? And if this is indeed an internal Party matter then it is surprising that Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu has dismissed the appointment of Independent MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries who are definitely not members of the NPF Party I Furthermore, despite there being the Model Code of Conduct in place, he has issued several official notifications even to the extent of allocating the office chambers at the State Civil Secretariat as well as the official residences of Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries to others which is also not at all an internal party matter but is in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
As we are aware, the Governor of Nagaland has a special responsibility unlike any other State to run the affairs of the State and at the same time safeguard the Constitution of India. Therefore, Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu has absolutely no jurisdiction to advice nor dictate the Governor of the State in the discharge of his Constitutional duties and functions. Also, Dr. Shurhozelie and his Council of Ministers have perhaps been misguided since the Nabam Rabia case is different from the current issue as in this case the Hon’ble Governor has not summoned the Assembly, but has advised that the Chief Minister should prove his majority in the house as Shri T. R. Zeliang has claimed the support of the majority of the members and that he should fix a date on or before the 15th of July 2017. This is very much within the parameters of the duties and functions of a Governor of a State enshrined in the Constitution of India. The fact that Dr. Shurhozelie and his Council of Ministers do not want to face this test is proof enough that he does not enjoy the support of the majority or else why the hesitation?
Another matter that needs to be clarified is that, a meeting of the NPF Legislature Party can be summoned only by the Leader of the NPF Legislature Party and nobody else, not even the Chief Minister if he has not been elected by the members as Leader of the Legislature Party. Therefore, it is within the ambit of the Constitutional provision that Shri T. R. Zeliang, the Leader of the NPF Legislature Party had summoned meeting of the NPF Legislature Party on the 4th of July 2017 and thereafter. Shri T. R. Zeliang has never ceased to be the Leader of the NPF Legislature Party ever since he was elected in 2014 and even as recent as June 2017, 44 MLAs of the NPF had individually reaffirmed their support to the Leadership of Shri T. R. Zeliang as the Leader of the NPF Legislature Party. It is a matter of fact that the 44 MLAs are inclusive of some of those with Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu namely Shri P. Longan, Shri Yitachu, Shri Y. Vikheho Swu, Shri C. L. John, Shri Chotisuh Sazo, Shri Thongwang Konyak, Shri R. Tohanba and Shri T. Torechu whose signatures were appended in support of Shri T. R. Zeliang. It is also brought to the attention of the general public that all those MLAs who are in support of Shri T. R. Zeliang and his leadership in forming a new DAN Government, have already submitted their individual resignation letters to the Chief Minister on 8th July, 2017, copies of which are attached herewith.
Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu is trying to earn public sympathy by compelling the Hon’ble Governor to dismiss him and his Government by not agreeing to a floor test. The people of Nagaland are no fools to be misled by his gimmicks afterall. Nevertheless, the Hon’ble MLAs under the leadership of Shri T. R. Zeliang are calmly and alertly observing Dr. Shurhozelie’s power mongering attitude which will cease in the next few days. We are prepared to provide a popular Government headed by Shri T. R. Zeliang so that the mental and psychological torture inflicted upon the people of Nagaland will be healed and the highly deserved comfort shall be delivered very soon. We hope that the people of Nagaland will bear with us during this short intervening period.
