Are you an important government official? If so, did you receive an invitation to attend Young Zoom on Garbage, the art festival currently on at the Clock Tower Square? And if so, did you make it to the festival? Chances are that you didn’t. Young Zoom on Garbage is meant to be an innovative and powerful way of drawing much needed attention to a very serious problem. So the organizers sent out more than 200 invitations for yesterday’s opening function. But only a handful showed up: barely 10% of the invitees were able to attend the inaugural ceremonies. That’s…
The ECB’s “functional literacy and skills test” for candidates to local government elections is comprehensive. Aspiring candidates will have to take a written test to determine their computational, analytical, managerial and correspondence skills. And they will have to undergo an oral test to demonstrate their reading, writing and speaking skills. ECB’s diligence will, no doubt, ensure that only the most competent can stand for the local government elections. And, that must be good. But I’ve been wondering: how many of our current MPs would have passed the functional literacy and skills test? I don’t know about my colleagues in…
Earlier this year, in “Mining our business”, I’d explained why it would be unlawful for the government to permit L&T, Gammon and HCC to operate stone quarries for the Punatshangchhu hydropower project. I don’t know for sure, but it looks like L&T, Gammon and HCC are now not operating the stone quarries. That is very good. But what I do know for sure is that L&T, Gammon and HCC have each established stone crushing plants. That is bad. And that is illegal. Stone crushing is a specific business, one that requires a separate industrial license, and one that is…
The prime minister, in his State of the Nation address, on employment: I am pleased to report to the Hon’ble Members that a total of 320,900 are now employed. This shows that 96.69% of our workforce is employed leaving an unemployment rate of 3.3%, marking a downward movement for the first time in recent years. This indicates very clearly that this government is well on track to achieve its ambitious target of 2.5% unemployment rate in the next three years with a huge labour market in the making. This is good news. After all, unemployment, especially youth unemployment, is…
It’s been almost two weeks since my last entry. Some people have asked me why I’ve been quiet. On the other hand, “Linda Wangmo”, a regular reader, scolded me for spending too much time bicycling. “Please do not waste time on our OLs blog….” advised Linda, “our dear OL is busy Bicycling and bicycling is every thing to him. It is now very clear that he will have no time for his blog and he would have no time to say what the government does….” Yes, I have been cycling a lot recently, especially during the weekends. Last Saturday,…
Bhutan Today has quoted MP Ugyen Wangdi, the National Assembly’s legislative committee chairman, of accusing the opposition leader of trying to “hoodwink the people of Bhutan” and taking “the people of Bhutan for a ride”. He was referring to my continuing protests over the government’s unlawful tax increases. Obviously, Dasho Ugyen is entitled to his views. And, yes, I’ll defend his right to express them. But I’m surprised at his views. After all, he’s the very MP who tabled the motion in Parliament to amend the provisions of the Sales Tax, Customs and Excise Act 2000 that he considered…
I’m surprised at the number of comments generated by “Foreign trips”. And I’m surprised that many of them are by first-time commentators. But, somehow I’m not surprised that virtually all the new commentators supported the prime minister’s frequent travels abroad last year.
The prime minister, in his State of the Nation address, reporting to the Parliament on foreign relations: My trips to India, Japan and Italy this year were also very useful in deepening our relations with these countries. I agree. But, the prime minister understated his international travel account. The following, in fact, is a record of his trips outside Bhutan during the 2009-2010 fiscal year: July 2009: Goodwill trip to India August 2009: Fukuoka, Japan to deliver address on GNH November 2009: Itaipu, Brazil to deliver address on GNH February 2010: Delhi, India to attend Sustainable Development Summit February…
You would have noticed that avatars of monsters now accompany your usernames. The monster IDs are automatically generated. And they are unique to you (as long as you use the same email address.) I’ve unleashed the monsters because none of you were using avatars. I hope you like them. But I hope you eventually create your own avatars! When it comes to usernames, however, it's a completely different story... Early followers of this blog will remember that on the original site, readers could post comments anonymously. You can still do that. But, whereas you didn’t even need to use…
For the people ...
Several people have asked me for an English translation of the expression of gratitude that I had offered to His Majesty the King during the inaugural ceremony of the fifth session of the Parliament. A busy schedule, arising from the fifth session, distracted me from translating the statement.
But yesterday, after posting the entry about the signing of our Constitution, I suddenly decided that the translation had to be done immediately. Here it is … Expression of Appreciation to His Majesty the King Introduction. It’s been hardly two years since the introduction of democracy in our country. Democratic Constitutional Monarchy has started off well, and as such, our country has received considerable international appreciation and acclaim for a successful transition to democracy.
But more importantly, our people are already enjoying the benefits of the new system of government.
We have been able to achieve a great deal of development within such a short span of time, because of the blessings of the Triple Gem; the support of our guardian deities; the prayers of our clergy; the good fortune of our people; and because of the wisdom, foresight and guidance of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.
Most importantly, it is because of the noble deeds and exceptional accomplishments of His Majesty the King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
To most people, democracy means that the complete powers of governance are in the hands of the people. And, that is correct. But in order to administer these powers on behalf of the people, our Constitution accredits a range of institutions. These are, for example, the National Council and the National Assembly, the ruling party and the opposition, the Lhengye Zhungtsho and civil servants, the judiciary, and the Constitutional Offices. The respective powers, roles and responsibilities of these institutions are enshrined in the Constitution.
But of all these institutions, that of the Druk Gyapo is, by far, the most important. According to Article 2 Section 1 of the Constitution, “His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo is the Head of State and the symbol of unity of the Kingdom and of the people of Bhutan.”
All of us are fully aware of His Majesty the King’s noble deeds, actions and achievements. So on behalf of the opposition party, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude by recalling a few of His Majesty’s accomplishments during the past two years. I thank the Honourable Speaker for allowing me to do so. One: land. In accordance with Article 2 Section 16 (b) (The Druk Gyalpo, in exercise of His Royal Prerogatives, may grant … land kidu and other kidus), His Majesty the King has, during the last two years, traveled throughout our country to grant audiences to people living in our remotest gewogs and villages, and to personally experience their living conditions and greatest difficulties.
On this day, two years ago, His Majesty the King, by warrant under His hand and seal, sanctioned the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan. To commemorate the historic event I visited the Tashichhodzong earlier today. In its Kunrey – the sacred chamber where the Constitution was signed and officially took effect – I offered butter lamps and prayers, and reflected on how we, parliamentarians, have served or failed our Constitution so far.
The projected order of business for the Fifth Session of the First Parliament for Bhutan had, among many others, the following two entries: Thursday, July 1: Presentation of the Annual Report on the State of the Nation, including Legislative Plans and the Annual Plans and Priorities of the Government, to the Druk Gyalpo and to the Joint Sitting of the Parliament. Monday, July 12: Deliberation on the presentation of the Annual Report on the State of the Nation including Legislative Plans and the Annual Plans and Priorities of the Government by the Prime Minister As we all know, the…
The Parliament met in a joint sitting yesterday to conclude its fifth session. And just like that, the first Parliament of Bhutan has already completed half of its 10 regular sessions. So I’ve been thinking about the past five sessions, and researching how we, your members of parliament, have bought you pride or disgrace during the course of our work. I may write about it, but sometime later. In the meantime, I invite you to share your thoughts on how we have fared so far. Which were our best moments? Which were our worst? And which made you laugh?…
