Ex-Mizoram CM Zoramthanga says he will soon retire from active politics

Aizawl: Former Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Monday said he will soon retire from active politics because of his age.

Zoramthanga, the president of the opposition MNF, said he discussed it with the party's senior vice president Tawnluia, and they both have decided that the party should continue without them.

"We have discussed the matter and we agreed that the party should continue without our presence as both of us have become 80. We have also informed our party leaders about our retirement," he told MNF workers after the party's office in Aizawl was inaugurated.

He said that party leaders will soon announce a "new arrangement".

Zoramthanga said that the current term of the MNF office-bearers has already expired, and he and Tawnluia have requested the leadership not to give them new responsibilities.

Zoramthanga had on December 5 resigned as the MNF president after the party was defeated in the assembly polls. However, his resignation was rejected by the party's leadership.

MNF lost power in the November 7 elections to ZPM, winning 10 of the 40 seats in the state assembly.

Zoramthanga has been holding the post of MNF president since 1990 after the death of Laldenga, who founded the party and spearheaded a secessionist movement from 1966 to 1986.

He had joined the underground movement led by the MNF in 1966 and became secretary to the president when the outfit moved its base to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1969.

Zoramthanga was made the vice president of MNF in 1979.

He has successfully contested assembly polls six times -- 1987, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2018. He served as the chief minister for three terms -- 1998 to 2008 and 2018 to 2023.