Calling for issues

Posted inLegislature
The third session of the Parliament will begin on 26 June 2009. But the agenda is not yet final. In fact, we don't even have a draft agenda. But expect your MPs to discuss the Local Government Bill, Tobacco Bill, Royal Monetary Authority Bill, Civil Service Bill and the 2009-2010 Budget Bill during their summer session. There probably will be other bills too. But, for now, I invite our readers to go through these bills and give me your comments.  The bills should be on the relevant websites (That's MOHCA, MOH, RMA, RCSC and MOF). The Parliament will also…

CDG and future elections

Posted inDemocracy, Government
I called on our Chief Election Commissioner yesterday. I called on him to report that the CDG, if implemented as proposed, will compromise the ECB's ability to conduct future elections to the National Assembly in a free and fair manner. The Constitution (Article 24.1) and the Election Act (Chapter 3.34) specifically require the Election Commission of Bhutan to conduct elections "in a free and fair manner." Why would CDG hinder free and fair elections? Through CDG, our government places Nu 10 million at the disposal of the members of the National Assembly. How that money is used in their…

Artist Rajesh

Posted inPeople
The talk of cartoons yesterday has got me thinking of my favorite caricature. It’s done by Rajesh. And, guess what? Rajesh is Wangchuk’s younger brother. Yes, that Wangchuck…the one we were talking about yesterday. So what do you think of this rendition of your OL? I’d used it as my avatar some time ago. And posted it on an earlier entry (What’s in a name?) Anyway, Rajesh, who sports Bhutan’s best ponytail, sketched this drawing while he was relaxing at Benez, reading a book and enjoying a cold Carlsberg. Pretty good, mo? By the way Rajesh is a freelance…

Drawing from cartoons

Posted inMedia
I quite enjoyed Kuensel's cartoon yesterday. Wangchuk, the artist, drew our eleven cabinet ministers huddled together, all of them smug and happy, and each clutching his Nu 2 million Constituency Development Grant. The caricatures are so accurate that all eleven ministers are immediately recognizable, even at a first quick glance. And readers are already talking about which minister is most faithfully represented in the cartoon. In my opinion, almost all the ministers are drawn well. But five are simply outstanding. They are Lyonpo Nandalal, Lyonpo Minjur, Lyonpo Thakur Singh, and Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering. Yes, even Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering though…

Good local government

Posted inLocal Government
Yesterday, I was in Haa. I'd gone there to observe part of the Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogdu that was in session since the 19th of May. And to receive instructions from the members of local government's highest body in my dzongkhag. During the past year, there's been a lot of talk about local governments, especially about their capabilities. My position has been very consistent: that local governments, in all 20 dzongkhags, are competent, and that they are more than able to discharge their duties as enshrined in our constitution. Yesterday, I saw that I was right. I saw that the…

CDG unconstitutional

Posted inLegislature14 Comments
Yesterday, I called on our Minister of Finance. I met him to personally explain why the opposition feels that the Constituency Grant (CDG) is unconstitutional. In particular, I advised him that the CDG may violate the following provisions of our constitution. Article 1.13: There shall be separation of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary and no encroachment of each other's powers is permissible except to the extent provided for by this Constitution. The CDG, as proposed, require MPs (members of the legislature) to be involved in proposing, approving and monitoring projects in the gewogs. That is, the legislature…

CDG poll results

Posted inLegislature
Of the 37 participants in the poll, 43% asked for more debate on the CDG by using our media. 35% felt that the CDG was unconstitutional and that the Ministry of Finance should be informed accordingly. And 22% said that ECB should be informed that the CDG breaks election laws. Thank you for your advice. Yesterday I officially informed that Minister of Finance that the CDG is unconstitutional. And I spoke with the media with the hope of facilitating public debate on this important issue.

INC, UPA: Congratulations

Posted inInternational
Her Excellency, Shrimati Sonia Gandhi President, Indian National Congress, and Chairperson, United Progressive Alliance Your Excellency: I have the great honour and pleasure to convey my humble congratulations to you on the success of the Congress Party and of the UPA during the recently held parliamentary elections. The People of India have indeed chosen wisely. I would also like to submit that the praise conferred upon you and Shri Rahul Gandhi for the astute leadership with which you have guided the Congress Party and UPA to victory in the elections is fully deserved. I take this opportunity to wish…

Impressive healthcare professionals

Posted inHealth, People3 Comments
I had a toothache last week. So on Friday, I went to the JDWNR hospital where Dr Kuenga Penjor, a young dentist, showed me that one of my molars had developed a big cavity beneath an old filling. He quickly removed the old filling, cleaned the cavity, and applied a new filling. My aches gave gone, and my tooth now feels as good as new. Dr Kuenga studied dentistry for six years at the Patna Dental College under a GOI scholarship. He is only 26 years old and has already decided to become an orthodontist. I'm impressed. I'm also…

Raising funds honourably

Posted inLegislature, Political parties
I was surprised to learn that "... the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) leaders recently told their members of parliament (MPs) to raise money for the party." (Read the Kuensel article). This is illegal. And I'm sure that the DPT leaders know that this is illegal. The National Assembly Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2008 forbids members of the National Assembly from fund raising. Section 54 under Chapter 7 (Role and Responsibility of the Members) specifically states that "A member shall not resort to any form of fund raising from individuals or ay agency." I've already accepted that we…

Photographing Bhutan

Posted inPeople
Here's a secret: Yeshey Dorji, one of Bhutan's best photographers, has a website. He started posting some of his photos online to satisfy friends, fans really, who keep bothering him to see his pictures. So if you go to his website, "Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon", you can treat yourself to some breath-taking pictures of our beautiful country. Yeshey is 54 years old. And he's been taking pictures for more than 30 of those years. Initially he limited his interest to just a hobby, as analogue photography was expensive. It was much later, only after the advent of…

Illegal grants

Posted inLegislature2 Comments
Our poll says that the CDG is illegal. 52% of the participants think that the CDG is unconstitutional. And 18% feel that it is very bad; that it will breed corruption. 15% are suspicious that the CDG will be used to win the next elections. And only 15% feel that the CDG is a good idea; that the grant will allow our MPs to fulfill their promises. 33 people participated in the poll. The result is obvious. An overwhelming majority of us feel that the CDG is not a good idea. And most of us are convinced that it…

Social risk

Posted inDemocracy, Monarchy
About a month ago I’d written about the Political Instability Index, EIU’s forecast of the likelihood of political unrest for165 countries. The Index ranked Norway as the world’s most politically stable country, and Zimbabwe the most volatile. 95 countries were considered “very high risk” or “high risk”; 53 countries “moderate risk”; and only 17 countries were deemed to be “low risk”. Bhutan, ranked 108, was rated at “moderate risk” to socio-political upheaval. Bhutanese Blogger expressed disappointment that I didn’t elaborate and commented: "I am disheartened that Your Excellency has chosen to blog this but do not have any opinion…

Public opinion matters

Posted inMiscellaneous
The results of our first poll are in. Of the 46 voters, 59% rated our new site as good or excellent. 40% said that our site could be improved or was bad. And 1 voter – this works out to 2% of the total votes – had no comments. I thank each and every one of our readers who took the time to participate in our first ever poll. Since most of you feel this site is ok, I will continue to use it. But, expects slight changes – I’ll be constantly trying to upgrade and improve our website.…

About the constitution

Posted inGovernment, Legislature
Kuensel is correct for being concerned that the 12 “dzongdags’ transfer flouts BCSR rule”. The newspaper is also correct for being concerned that RCSC rules may have been broken. And correct for pointing out that our government is “not above the law.” But, as serious as Kuensel’s concerns already are, we should be even more seriously concerned. Why? Because our cabinet’s offense is not limited to breaking BCSR and RCSC rules. Instead, our cabinet may have knowingly broken the provisions of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Article 2, Section 19(q) of our constitution states that “The Druk…