Joy questions abandoned House session
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 17 2018:
Veteran politician Okram Joy has questioned whether abandoning a scheduled State Assembly session is acceptable to the Parliamentary practice of the country.
Speaking to media persons at his Kakwa residence this afternoon, Joy said that the State Government took a decision on August 7 to convene an Assembly session on August 10 after some civil society organisations submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister regarding the Framework Agreement.
But the scheduled Assembly session was postponed to August 16 and later it was abandoned on the ground that there was no need for holding any Assembly session.
Such hasty decisions do not conform with the Parliamentary practice followed in the country, Joy said.
A session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly was convened on February 12, 1981 but it was postponed to February 18 by another notification.
During the particular Assembly session, it was pointed out that the Governor has authority to convene Assembly session but no power to postpone any Assembly session.
The then Governor clarified that the session was postponed at the advice of the council of Ministers for the convenience of Members but all Opposition Members walked out of the House, Joy said.
An Assembly session once convened should not be postponed hastily or on flimsy grounds, said the veteran politician.
The Assembly session adjourned on July 23 can be extended by the Speaker or the Assembly Secretary but no official correspondence was received from the State Government about the extended session scheduled on August 16.But the State Government later decided not to hold any Assembly session.
Such flip-flop decisions of the State Government has severely undermined the sanctity of the State Assembly, he decried.
Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured that the territorial boundary of Manipur will remain intact, the Prime Minister has so far not given any assurance that no separate administration will be allowed within the State.
Moreover, the Central Government has been working to extend Article 371A to Manipur which would ultimately pave way for disintegration of the State.
As such, it would be prudent on the part of all concerned to convene an Assembly session for threadbare discussion on the changing dynamics of the Framework Agreement, he asserted.