Aizawl, Dec 14 – Lalfamkima of the ruling Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) is to be elected unopposed as Deputy Speaker of the 9th Mizoram legislative assembly as he is the only legislator who filed his nomination papers for the post, state assembly secretariat sources said on Wednesday.
Lalfamkima was earlier appointed and sworn-in as Pro-tem Speaker of the state legislature on Friday last and administered oath of office to 39 newly elected legislators on Tuesday, the first day of the first session of the 9th state legislature.
A former top official of the state legislative assembly said though there is no law against election of Pro-tem Speakers as Speaker or Deputy Speaker, it is highly unusual to do so.
“There is no law against election of pro-tem speaker as speaker or deputy speaker of the Parliament or state legislature, but it had never been done in the past,” he said.
Earlier, Lalbiakzama, a legislator elected for the first time, was elected unopposed as Speaker of the state legislature on Tuesday.
The election of Lalbiakzama, who has no experience in the assembly proceedings, also has raised some eyebrows.
The ruling ZPM sources, however, justified the election of a first-time legislator as Speaker as 20 of the party’s 27 elected MLAs are first timers, which included two women. Of 10 legislators belonging to the Mizo National Front, two have elected for the first time while one of the two BJP MLAs is a new face in the state legislature.
