On Monday, Meghalaya Deputy Speaker Timothy D. Shira announced that the election of the Meghalaya Assembly Speaker will be held on September 13. He said that the candidates will have to file their nomination papers on September 10 and assessment will also take place on the same day.

Metbah Lyngdoh vs Winnerson D. Sangma for the post of Speaker 

The election was necessitated following the demise of Assembly Speaker, Donkupar Roy, on July 28. Donkupar Roy, who was the president of the United Democratic Party (UDP). He was elected to the post of the Speaker on March 12, 2018. The ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government has nominated the Tourism Minister Metbah Lyngdoh, as its candidate for the post of Speaker. Lyngdoh, UDP leader, is a three-time member of the Meghalaya Assembly which consists of 60 members. His name was recommended by the MDA’s core committee headed by Deputy CM Prestone Tynsong.

The opposition party Congress has decided to nominate its two-time legislator, Winnerson D. Sangma. Sangma was also the candidate of the Opposition in the last election for the Speaker’s post. But he lost to Donkupar Roy, who was elected as the Speaker in March 2018.

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The MDA which comprises of six political parties, has 40 MLAs in the 60-member house. The National People’s party which leads the coalition government has 21 members, UDP has eight, People’s Democratic Front with four, two members each from Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Hill State People’s Party, one member each from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement beside one independent member.

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The autumn session of the Meghalaya legislative assembly

The autumn session of the 10th Meghalaya legislative assembly started from September 6 and it consists of six working days. The calendar for the session was approved by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) during a meeting chaired by the Deputy Speaker Timothy D. Shira. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, Opposition leader Mukul Sangma and former speaker Charles Pyngrope.

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Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker Donkupar Roy passed away on July 28, in a private hospital in New Delhi. He was 65 years old. He was representing Shella constituency at the time of his death. He was a doctorate in economics from the North Eastern Hill University.

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