Speaker will remain in office : Joy

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 13 : Veteran politician Okram Joy has stated that the Manipur Legislative Assembly will still remain in office even if the State Assembly is brought under suspended animation.
Talking to The Sangai Express, the veteran politician said that when a State is brought under suspended animation, the State’s Assembly is made defunct for some time but the Assembly is not dissolved.
In such a situation, the Speaker will remain in office. As per the Constitution, the Speaker should be an elected Member of the House, Joy said.
A non-elected member may hold ministerial posts at both the National (Parliament) and State (Legislative Assembly) levels. The individual may even hold the post of Chief Minister if he is supported by majority Members of the House, he said.
This is not applicable to the post of Speaker. The individual who holds the post of Speaker must be an elected Member of Parliament or a Member of the State Assembly, Joy said.
The Speaker will cease to hold the post if he/she is not elected in the next election.
If incumbent Speaker Th Satyabrata does not get elected in the next election, he would cease to hold the post of Speaker, the veteran politician said.
The Speaker will also cease to hold the office if either he/she resigns or he/she is removed from the same post by a resolution of the House, Joy said.
Except for these three situations, the Speaker will remain in office, he added.
As per Article 174 of the Constitution, a State Assembly should hold its session for every six months.
The last session of the State Assembly was held on August 12, 2024. As such, the next session should have been held by February 11, 2025.
On being questioned if there is a constitutional crisis in the State as no State Assembly session has been held even after the lapse of six months, the veteran politician opined that the Governor might have recommended the Centre to keep the State Assembly under suspended animation even before February 11.
Neither a new leader of BJP legislators has been appointed nor any claim has been made to form a new Government. On the other hand, the Governor has the authority not to inform the  people of the imposition of suspended animation as an official secret, Joy said.
The Governor may come out with an official announcement about bringing the State Assembly under suspended animation after the Union Cabinet holds a meeting on the same matter, he said.
Joy maintained that the 12th State Assembly is not dead yet.
The seventh session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly which was scheduled to commence from February 10 was declared null and void by the Governor on February 9.
Such cancellation of scheduled Parliament or Assembly sessions is not without a precedent. A scheduled Parliament session was cancelled in 1951. Similar cancellation of State Assembly sessions happened in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh too in the past.
There was a case of Governor LP Singh putting off the State Assembly session when late Rishang Keishing  was the Chief Minister, Joy recalled.
The assumption or claim made by some people that N Biren would return as the Chief Minister after some time is a pipedream, he said.  
On being enquired about BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip’s assertion that the Kukis’ demand for separate administration will not be dropped even after a Kuki MLA is made the Chief Minister of Manipur, O Joy  condemned the same statement in the strongest terms.
It is a matter of grave concern that both BJP and the Central Government have been watching silently when Paolienlal Haokip has been openly demanding disintegration of Manipur, Joy remarked.
Paolienlal Haokip must be taught a befitting lesson that he, as an MLA, cannot make such statements, the veteran politician said.
While all the political parties and CSOs have been asking for restoration of peace and normalcy in the State, the BJP MLA representing Saikot AC has been making highly provocative and inflammatory  statements to escalate the crisis, Joy slammed.
BJP leaders of both the Centre and the State must show that the demand to set up a separate administration for Kukis by disintegrating Manipur is unacceptable, Joy continued.
Manipur became an independent Nation with its own Constitution after the lapse of the British paramountcy.  Manipur became a part of India under the Manipur Merger Agreement 1949. Central leaders must never forget this fact, Joy asserted.
The people will never accept any attempt of the Centre to divide Manipur. Manipur did not join the Indian Union to be disintegrated, he asserted.
The demand to create Kukiland by disintegrating Manipur is a challenge to the Constitution of India. Disintegrating Manipur is disintegrating India, he said.
Questioning the deafening silence of BJP to the violent campaign to disintegrate Manipur, O Joy asked  if there is any article in BJP’s constitution to break Manipur.
He went on to ask as to why BJP is not saying anything to its seven Kuki MLAs who have been openly campaigning for disintegration of Manipur.
Indian leaders who have no objection to disintegration of Manipur must know that Manipur does not belong to them but it belongs to the people of Manipur, he said.
Paolienlal Haokip’s dream of disintegrating Manipur will never be realised even if he walks on the dead bodies of all the people of Manipur, he added.