Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Wednesday took oath as Chief Minister of Nagaland. He is the 11th Chief Minister of the State.
Mr. Liezietsu, who heads a 12-member Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) Ministry, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor P.B. Acharya at a function in the Raj Bhavan in Kohima.
Mr. Liezietsu succeededs T.R. Zeliang, who stepped down on Sunday amidst protests by various tribal organisations against the government’s decision to reserve 33% seats for women in urban local body elections.
Eleven Ministers -Kiyanilie Peseyie, Yanthungo Patton, P. Longon, C. Kipili Sangtam, C.L. John, Yitachu, Paiwang Konyak, Vikheho Swu, Chotisuh Sazo, Imkong L. Imchen and G. Kaito Aye, also took oath with the 81-year-old Mr. Liezietsu.
Imkong L. Imchen and G. Kaito Aye are new faces in the Ministry.
Mr. Liezietsu is not a member of the Assembly and he will have to get elected within six months from taking office.
On Monday, Mr. Liezietsu was unanimously elected as the leader of DAN Legislature Party at a meeting, which was attended by 59 legislators.
Nagaland has a 60-member Assembly.
Mr. Liezietsu, who is also the Nagaland People's Front (NPF) president and chairman of the DAN, was a member of the Assembly for eight terms. He did not contest the 2013 Assembly elections, allowing his son, Khriehu Liezietsu, to successfully fight the polls.
Mr. Liezietsu, who is also an eminent scholar, author and linguist, began his political career as a member of the Assembly in 1969 from northern Angami-I under Kohima district.
During his long political career, he had held different portfolios, including Education, Planning and Coordination and Urban Development. He was the Minister for Higher Education till 2013.
One of the founding members of Nagaland’s first regional party — United Democratic Front (UDF) and later Naga National Democratic Party (NNDP) — Mr. Liezietsu had played an important role in the formation of the NPF in 2002.
Mr. Liezietsu has authored 42 books on poetry, novels, drama and translations. Several of his books are part of the syllabus in Nagaland University. He is one of the most decorated academicians in Angami (native language of the Angami tribe) literature. He belongs to the tribe, one of the 16 major tribes in the State.
President of Ura Academy, the State’s highest literary body, he was conferred an honorary D.Litt. by the Nagaland University in 2003.
After initial schooling in Mission Public School, Kohima, he did his matriculation in 1956 from Kohima Government High School and graduation from the prestigious St. Edmund’s College, Shillong.
