SHILLONG: The MDA is set to witness testing times as far as selecting a common candidate for the upcoming Parliamentary polls is concerned with one of its important constituents, United Democratic Party (UDP), deciding to stick to its decision of fielding Jemino Mawthoh for the Shillong seat.
UDP senior leader, Allantry F Dkhar said that the party has already made up its mind on fielding Jemino Mawthoh as the common candidate.
“We have already made up our mind and he is our candidate irrespective of whether our proposal finds support or not…we are going ahead,” Dkhar said.
Asked if the UDP’s stand even before the meeting of the coordination committee would derail the process of choosing a common candidate, Dkhar said, “That is the proposal we have put forth and whether it will derail the process is for our partners to examine.” Reiterating they have made the proposal considering their strength and which will guarantee the health of the coalition, Dkhar said, “We cannot turn back. He (Mawthoh) has put in so much effort and months have gone by.”
“If our candidate just projects his name and sits at home doing nothing he will not have an edge,” he said adding, UDP has put up a good candidate who has the charisma, commitment and desires to be the voice in Parliament.
He also maintained that the UDP is not being pushy as they have projected their candidate while the HSPDP have theirs. When the MDA meets and each constituent partner will propose its candidate that is the time when the final assessment will be made.
To a query whether the UDP will pull out of the coalition if their proposal is not met, Dkhar said that they will cross the bridge when they get there.
On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister and NPP leader Prestone Tynsong said that they have already had preliminary discussion about the common candidate, but are yet to take a final decision.
Acknowledging that Mawthoh is a good candidate and a good proposal made by the MDA, Tynsong said that it is not the end as they will have to carry along everybody on this.
“We will leave it to the coordination committee to find a solution,” Tynsong added.
