Aizawl: Zoram People’s Movement leader V Zirsanga will be sworn in as the new chief executive member (CEM) of the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) in Mizoram on Thursday, an official said.
The official said that state Governor General (retired) Vijay Kumar Singh on Monday approved the appointment of Zirsanga as the council’s chief.
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The notification issued by the state’s district council and minority affairs department on Monday said that the LADC should hold a special session for a floor test to prove Zirsanga’s majority within 30 days of his appointment as the CEM, he said.
Zirsanga’s appointment came more than a week after Mizo National Front (MNF)-Congress coalition executive committee in the LADC in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district had collapsed on February 12 after the incumbent CEM C. Lalmuanthanga resigned from his post just moments before a floor test.
Barely 9 months after the MNF-Congress coalition executive body was established on May 14 last year, political uncertainty popped up in the 25-member council when two MNF MDCs (members of district council) -Zirsanga and Lallawmsanga Apetow- declared their support for the state’s ruling party (ZPM) and resigned their membership from the MNF.
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Zirsanga and other ZPM leaders recently met the Governor and staked their claim to form the next executive committee in the council.
In the present council, the ZPM has 13 members, MNF- 11 and Congress has one member.
In the last LADC polls held on 4 December 2020, MNF won a majority by winning 20 out of 25 seats, while BJP and Congress bagged one each and three independent candidates were also elected.
MNF leader Manghmunga Chinzah was sworn in as the CEM on December 14 that year and he was later replaced by Zirsanga in August 2021.
Political deadlock began in January last year when the Special Court (Prevention of Corruption Act) in Aizawl convicted Zirsanga and sentenced him to 4 years imprisonment with a Rs. 4 lakh fine for misappropriating Rs. 1.33 crore during his previous tenure as an executive member in the council.
Following this, 8 MNF members had tied up with three independent members and one each from Congress and BJP, and urged then-governor Hari Babu Kambhampati to convene a special session for a no-confidence vote against Zirsanga’s council.
Zirsanga stepped down from his post on March 7 last year, just an hour before a special session to address a floor test against his executive committee.
However, after Zirsanga’s resignation, one of the 8 rebel MNF members returned to his camp resulting in a continued political impasse.
Both the ruling and opposition camps have 12 members each with the resignation of Lorrain Lalpekliana Chinzah after his election to the state legislature.
Subsequently, Kambhampati imposed a governor’s rule and appointed Lawngtlai deputy commissioner as the caretaker of the council from March 15.
On May 1 last year, 12 MNF members joined forces with lone Congress member, C. Lalmuanthanga, and formed the United Legislature Party (ULP).
The newly formed coalition presented its claim to Kamphampati to run the council and C. Lalmuanthanga was sworn in as the CEM on May 14 after the governor’s approval.
LADC is one of the three ADCs in the southern part of Mizoram, which was created in 1972 for the Lai tribal people and its headquarters is Lawngtlai.