SHILLONG, May 5: In what may be termed as a mere formality, the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) general conference on Friday unanimously resolved to merge with the National People’s Party (NPP).
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by party president and Sohra MLA, Gavin Miguel Mylliem in the presence of party working president and Mawkynrew MLA Banteidor Lyngdoh, senior leaders and members of the general conference, central executive committee, zonal committee, district committee and the primary committee.
The official signing of the merger document between the PDF president and NPP national president Conrad K. Sangma will take place at the NPP office at 4 pm on Saturday.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mylliem said members present at the general conference unanimously gave the green signal to the party leaders to move ahead with the merger.
Claiming that the party had received merger requests from several political parties, Mylliem said they chose to go with the NPP since the two parties have been closely working together for over five years in the MDA government under the leadership of Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.
He also said that a majority of the PDF members seem to be politically inclined towards the NPP considering the ideologies and the agenda reflected in the election manifesto of the ruling party.
“We need to be very clear that we have not dissolved the party. This is a case of merger where two parties have combined together to become one,” Mylliem said.
He further revealed that the official merger document will be made public once it is signed by the presidents of the two parties.
Asked about the future role of the two party MLAs in the NPP-led MDA 2.0 Government, Mylliem said they will perform their duties as per the roles designated for them in the merger document.
As far as a Cabinet berth is concerned, the PDF chief said it would depend entirely on the wisdom of the chief minister.
Asked to react on the general observation that the merger will benefit only the two MLAs, the PDF president clarified that they had a meeting with the chief minister a few days ago where he clearly stated that the NPP will reorganize and restructure itself in the coming months.
He also revealed that the NPP chief has confirmed that all the members of the PDF would be assigned specific responsibilities right from the primary level till the level of the central executive committee.
To a query on the resignation of the former party vice president, James Ban Basaiawmoit in protest against the merger, the PDF chief said he (Basaiawmoit) clearly mentioned in his letter that he decided to resign from the party on personal grounds.
