SHILLONG, June 2 - In a jolt to the Congress-led Meghalaya Government, Governor V Shanmuganathan has ruled that Pynshngainlang Syiem, a Congress MLA, do not attract disqualification for holding the dual post of an MDC in the District Council.
Syiem was facing disqualification after the Assembly passed the Prevention of Disqualification (Members of the Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya) (Amendment) Act, 2015, last year. The legislation bars MLAs from holding the additional post of a member of the District Councils.
Seven MLAs, barring Syiem, who is the Chief Executive Member of Khasi Hills District Council, have resigned from their post as MDCs, after the legislation was passed.
But now with the Governor�s order, which was passed last evening, the matter has been disposed. The Governor�s order read: �In accordance with opinion of the Election Commission, I hereby decide that under Article 192 (1) of the Constitution, Pynshngainlang Syiem, member of Meghalaya Assembly has not attracted the disqualification under Article 191(1) (a) of the Constitution. The matter is disposed off accordingly.�
Last year, Syiem together with other Congress legislator tried to oust Chief Minister Mukul Sangma from his chair unsuccessfully. The legislation against dual post holders came sometime later. Ever since, Syiem and Sangma have been at loggerheads and both have engaged in heated debates in the Assembly on several occasions.
However, the Chief Minister said today that he still feels that MLAs should not hold the dual post of an MDC. �There is no question of revisiting the Act after the Governor�s order,� he said, adding, the matter is sub-judice as a petition on the subject is spending before the Court.
