• In turn, the former CM will succeed Shurhozelie as chairman of Democratic Alliance of Nagaland
• New chief minister, 81-year-old Dr Shurhozelie will be sworn in on February 22 at Kohima
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Nagaland's new chief minister Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu (R) submitting his claim as the leader of the house to governor P B Acharya on Monday at Kohima. Former chief minister TR Zeliang, whom Shurhozelie will be replacing, is also seen in the picture. [/caption]
Dimapur, Feb. 20: After almost fifty years of involvement on Naga politics, the NPF stalwart Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu was on Monday elected “unanimously” as the leader of Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) legislature party, thus paving way for his crowning as the 17th chief minister of Nagaland.
A staunch regionalist, Dr Liezietsu is expected to be sworn in at Kohima as the chief minister of Nagaland by governor PB Acharya on February 22 next at 11 am. A press release from the chief minister’s office on Monday informed that he would be the third chief minister of DAN III.
He would be replacing TR Zeliang, who had resigned in the wake of unprecedented pressure from Naga tribe organisations. The change in guard was made possible after the two leaders, Zeliang and Shurhozelie agreed to swap places: Zeliang would replace Shurhozelie as the chairman of DAN Coordination Committee.
His name was proposed by Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu at the DAN legislature party meeting, and was “unanimously” accepted by the legislators. He will enjoy the status of a cabinet minister.
According to the CMO press release, the chief-minister designate Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Monday lauded Zeliang’s “supreme sacrifice” of vacating his chair to save Naga people from going into further turmoil.
After being elected as the leader of DAN legislature party, Shurhozelie was quoted by the CMO as saying: “He has done this with a big heart and I want all to recognize this sacrifice”.
According to the statement, he said: “God willing and with the full support of all of you, I will do my best to see that we work together to bring back normalcy to our land and society. A lot of damage has been done to the fair name of Nagaland and our economy has been adversely affected in the last few weeks. But I hope good sense will prevail so that people can come together and rebuild our society.
“I cannot do magic even if I take over but I have a strong feeling that together we can achieve our goal, together we can do it”. He also called upon the legislators to forgive one another if there have been differences among them and to “move ahead together for the betterment of the Naga society”, it informed.
A separate statement from the chief minister’s office stated Zeliang had expressed confidence that the state would ‘benefit immensely’ from the experienced leadership and statesmanship of Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu.
“I am confident that under his experienced leadership all issues will be smoothly solved and the people of our state will benefit immensely from his statesmanship,” he was quoted as saying. Zeliang, it informed, thanked his successor ‘for having been the fatherly figure all through these tumultuous months.’ “In his farewell speech today at the Banquet Hall, Zeliang went on to narrate how after attempts to destabilise his government failed, some people started to raise issues pertaining to the functioning of his department, Food & Civil Supplies.
“He recalled how he was able to implement National Food Security Act last June to ensure that the right amount of food grains reach the targeted beneficiaries without any pilferages whatsoever, and also made the whole process transparent by listing the names of beneficiaries in the open,” the CMO statement read.
However, it quoted him as saying, the good that we do seems to be overlooked by many, and perceived shortcomings are magnified ‘beyond belief’. “On the elections to the ULBs, what he called the ultimate issue, he rued how some individuals and organisations who supported whole-heartedly that elections to the ULBs should be held with 33% reservation for women a few months back, took U-turns and started to oppose the same, tooth and nail. “What was supposed to be a social movement took strange directions when politically-vested interests started to steer the movement. Mobocracy took over resulting in loss of precious lives and injuries to some, razing of several government properties and innocent public held to ransom as bandhs and restriction of movement were (sic) imposed”.
He also stated that “women were in the street as bandh volunteers to the call of tribal organisations to topple my government” even though “our main objective was to safeguard the interest of women through the reservation of seats for them in the ULBs”.
According to the statement Zeliang said: “Our government also took the decision to hold elections to the ULBs to pre-empt the Supreme Court from giving any verdict which could adversely affect Article 371(A). However, it is to be reminded to the Naga public that Naga aspiration issue is beyond Article 371(A) and 16-point Agreement, and is to be carried forward by the state government till final solution is arrived at”.
He expressed gratitude to the NPF party rank and file as well as to the DAN partners and all his colleagues and the MP Rajya Sabha ‘for standing steadfast with him through thick and thin.’
The CMO statement added that he made a special mention of “my good friend, long-time colleague of more than two decades, Mr Neiphiu Rio, Member of Parliament Lok Sabha and former chief minister of Nagaland for his efforts to bring normalcy in the Naga society at this moment when various organisations have brought the entire society and the functioning of the government to a grinding halt.” He also thanked the NBCC and the various denominations of the Church and the people of Nagaland for their prayers and support especially during the present crisis which he said he believed prevented matters from getting worse, it stated.
Also, a Raj Bhavan press release issued on Monday informed that Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu had called on governor Acharya today and “formally” staked claim for formation of new government in Nagaland. He was accompanied by the outgoing chief minister and other “cabinet colleagues.”
It stated that the governor appointed Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu, leader of Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) as the chief minister of Nagaland, and invited him to form the ministry on February 22 next at 11 am at Raj Bhavan, Kohima.
A devout regionalist, who is also the president of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) since 2005, Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu hails from Kohima village. He began his political career in 1969 and except for a loss in the state elections in 1989 and another in the Lok Sabha elections in 1999, he had successfully represented the 10th Northern Angami assembly constituency as MLA for eight terms.
Also known for his enthusiasm for academics, particularly language and literature, Dr Shurhozelie had served as a teacher before entering into politics. He heads the Ura Academy Kohima as its president, and has authored more than 40 books.
During the 2013 general elections, he paved way for his son Khriehu Liezietsu to contest from the same constituency by vacating the assembly constituency seat. However, with the recent developments, now a reverse of this role is being anticipated.
Dr Shurhozelie, the chief minister-designate will have to go for a by-election within six months, ie, by August this year. Although he can contest from any of the 60 assembly constituencies, one MLA will have to vacate seat for him and it is widely being projected that his son would have to make the sacrifice.
