The newly formed Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government is likely to run into rough weather with so many alliance partners all straining at the leash. The immediate need is for the new government to come up with a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) so that the key concerns of the alliance partners are addressed democratically and the sparring match in the media ends. It is too early in the day to hear the PDF with four members raising its dissenting voice against another coalition partner. This government has been formed to fulfill the aspirations of the people and not the specific ideology of any single political party. If the coalition partners cannot converge and come out with a consensus then they do not deserve to be in the driving seat. It is better that Meghalaya goes to the polls again and that political parties and their cantankerous members are taught a lesson. Too often the elected focus on their personal agenda and forget the people who elected them. Many of the first time MLAs have started demanding personal security officers (PSOs) from the time they learnt of their victory. This tells us how self serving these so-called public representatives are.
Some of those leading the political parties in the present coalition have themselves lost the election but they are trying to do backseat driving through their MLAs. If the prime focus of the elected is to serve the public as they have all sworn on oath then there should not be any place for personal and political muscle flexing. Many are skeptical about whether this Government will last its full term. It is incumbent upon the regional parties to prove the skeptics wrong unless they want a repeat rule by the Congress party which is the only other option. A CMP is a sine-qua-non of any coalition government. The earlier the MDA comes up with this the better for the Government. This should be made public since it is also a commitment to the people of Meghalaya.