DIMAPUR, July 16 - The Nagaland CMO has put in public domain certain facts of the NPF party over the ongoing political crisis in Nagaland for the people.
In a statement today, the CMO said that dissident leader TR Zeliang cannot move a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Dr Sh�rhozelie Liezietsu as he belongs to the NPF party which the Chief Minister heads. Therefore, it claimed, Dr Sh�rhozelie still enjoys absolute majority in the House constitutionally and legally because NPF alone commands 47 members in the House of 60.
The CMO stated that the confidence motion would put the NPF MLAs where they could be disqualified if they voted against the party whip, while adding that the MLAs are being misguided to say that the Speaker�s office will not disqualify them.
�However, the court is at our doorstep and their disqualification will become imminent if the matter is taken to court because the Constitution and the law of the land is supreme,� the CMO statement said.
However, the CMO said the NPF party is open to a total reconciliation process and therefore would not like to place in the public domain the internal matters of the party.
The statement stated that the Leader of the House is Dr Sh�rhozelie Liezietsu by virtue of being the Chief Minister in the present scenario and that there is no vacancy for the Chief Minister�s post.
It pointed out that there is no Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly as it is an Opposition-less government and added that even if there is an Opposition party in the Assembly, if the number of MLAs is less than 1/6 of the total number of MLAs, one cannot be termed as a Leader of Opposition. That is why in the 12th Nagaland House with eight Congress Opposition MLAs, their Legislature Party Leader could not be termed as Leader of Opposition and was not accorded any official status but only referred to as Congress Legislature Party leader, it stated.
The CMO regretted that the issue, purely an NPF internal party problem, which could be resolved in the party, has now been dragged to the Governor�s office and Speaker�s office. It added that both Liezietsu and Zeliang are members of NPF and their differences should be decided in the party forum first.
