ZPM could've fared better in polls had it been a registered patry: Leader

The Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), which won eight seats in the assembly polls and is a new entrant in the Mizoram poll scenario, could have done better had it been registered as a political party, ZPM leader

People wait with their identity cards to cast their votes for the Assembly elections,| Photo: PTI

said on Friday.

The ZPM, a conglomerate of the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) and Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) and four groups, had fielded 35 independent candidates in the November 28 Assembly polls.

It secured three seats more than the Congress and came second behind the Mizo National Front, which won 26 seats.

"Being not registered as a political party was one of the weak points of the ZPM,", Lalduhoma, also the ZNP chief, who won from two seats and defeated outgoing Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla in the latter's home turf at Serchip, said.

The ZPM, he said, had won less than expected as many people were afraid that the group would break after the polls.

"People want stability and reliability in the political parties," Lalduhoma, who was the chief ministerial candidate of the ZPM, said.

Efforts would be made by the ZNP and the MPC to form a new political party -- the ZPM -- by early 2019 as the two parties were already working as a single entity, he said.

"We will soon approach the Election Commission," Lalduhoma said.