Mind the gap

May 8, 2019Posted inGovernment, Local Government3 Comments
The DNT government achieved a significant milestone yesterday. And they did not commemorate it with any fanfare. In fact, the opposition party and the media and all of social media have also been quiet. What’s the milestone? Six months: our third elected government completed their first six months on the job yesterday. For those who may have forgotten, His Majesty the King conferred dakyen to the incoming prime minister, ministers and opposition leader on the 7th of November last year. But it’s only six months? Yes. Now, look at it another way. Six months means 10% of the government’s…

State owned enterprises

April 19, 2019Posted inEconomy, Government, Media2 Comments
The Interim GovernmentLast year, during the election period, the Interim Government seems to have conducted a study of state owned enterprises and released a report that is critical of companies established by the former government. That’s okay. It’s good that the Interim Government was concerned whether “established protocol” was followed while establishing the new companies and recommended strategies to streamline the system. What’s not okay is the timing. The Interim Government seems to have taken up the issue of SOEs immediately after the primary elections ... that is after PDP lost. So I’m still wondering if SOEs would have…

Cost-cutting measures

August 25, 2013Posted inGovernment, Media36 Comments
Press Release 23 August 2013 Bearing in mind the current state of the economy faced with a growing public debt, INR dearth and ever increasing current expenditure, the Fourth sitting of the Cabinet decided on adopting austerity measures to rein in unnecessary and excessive spending. As such, the Cabinet has decided to implement the following cost cutting measures until economic situation improves in the country:  1. Pay: As per recommendation of the National Assembly conveyed vide NAB-SP/2010/74, dated 16/12/2010, the pay scales for the Ministers of the Second Parliament was to be increased from Nu.78,000 – 1,560 – 85,800…

Contrast and compare

March 25, 2013Posted inEducation, Government4 Comments
Have you travelled on the Thimphu - Chunzom higway recently? Is so, you would have noticed a frenzy of construction activity at "Charkilo". What's being constructed is the road to the controversial Education City. For all the controversy surrounding the Education City, the government has made sure that the project has not suffered for want of attention or support. The cabinet has earmarked and approved the lease of 1000 acres of land as the government's equity for the project.  A new company, DHI-Infra, was established two years ago to spearhead the project. A full board, with the works and…

Message on Happiness Day

March 20, 2013Posted inGovernment, Monarchy7 Comments
Today is a big day for Bhutan … and the world. Today, people all over the world will come together to observe the first International Day of Happiness. My family and I join the people of Bhutan in celebrating the first ever global happiness day. I thank the prime minister and the government for their hard work and perseverance in advocating Gross National Happiness at home and abroad. I congratulate them for for successfully promoting happiness in the international agenda, and for pushing the United Nations to adopt the resolution on happiness. Their efforts have led to the adoption…

Entitlement urgency

February 17, 2013Posted inDemocracy, Government15 Comments
Most of you sided with the government's proposal to force early elections that I wrote about in Dissolving the government. Thank you for your comments. (For the record, PDP would benefit from early elections too. Unlike the three new parties, we already have a presence in all 20 dzongkhags. And that means that early elections would almost assure us of getting past the primary round.) By law, the government can recommend the premature dissolution of the National Assembly. So I have no problem with the legality of the government's proposal. It's the principle that concerns me. If the government's…

Dissolving the government

February 13, 2013Posted inGovernment, Political parties23 Comments
In his inaugural address last Friday, the Speaker announced that the government has proposed for the early dissolution of the National Assembly. According to Article 10, Section 24 of the Constitution: “… While the National Council shall complete its five-year term, premature dissolution of the National Assembly may take place on the recommendation of the Prime Minister to the Druk Gyalpo …” So yes, the government can recommend the dissolution of the National Assembly before the completion of its term. The government can do so. But they should not. Why? Because, the government is forcing early elections for their…

Ill conceived and misguided policy

October 20, 2012Posted inGovernment45 Comments
My statement to the press yesterday: Yesterday the UN General Assembly voted to elect non-permanent members to the UN Security Council. Bhutan, along with Cambodia and South Korea, competed for a single vacancy for the Asia Pacific Group of countries. Bhutan secured only 20 of the 192 votes cast and was eliminated in the first round of elections itself. South Korea beat Cambodia in the second round of voting, and was elected to the Security Council. The Government has expended considerable time and resources trying to secure a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Our Mission to…

Hejo vs Denchi

August 16, 2012Posted inGovernment154 Comments
About two years ago, I'd written about a group of residents in Hejo, Thimphu. Their land had been taken over by the government. But they had not accepted the government's compensation for their land. They claimed that the government's compensation rate - set by the Property Assessment and Valuation Agency, PAVA - was too low. They protested that their land, located adjacent to Thimphu's dzong and close to the capital's business center, fetched much higher prices in the market. And they pointed out that even PAVA's rates were considerably higher for land that is located further away from the…

Public resources control media?

August 14, 2012Posted inGovernment, Media86 Comments
About four months ago, on 28 April, The Bhutanese complained in their editorial that the government was increasingly “using their advertisement revenue to ‘fix’ critical papers …” Last Saturday, Business Bhutan published a copy of a circular, marked “confidential”, directing all departments within the Ministry of Information and Communication “not to provide any advertisement, announcement, notification, circular, etc” to The Bhutanese. The letter, dated 2 April, was issued at the instruction of the Minister. Lyonpo Nandalal Rai, the minister of information and communications, has clarified that the circular was a result of miscommunication; that he had meant “Bhutanese media”,…

Studying pedestrian day

July 24, 2012Posted inGovernment96 Comments
On pedestrian day, the number of vehicles driven is halved, and the number of people walking is doubled. At least, that's what a study by the National Environment Commission says. Good. But what would be better, essential in fact, is for the government to study the impact that pedestrian day has on the quality of our lives. And the impact that it has on doing business in Bhutan.

About relief

July 14, 2012Posted inGovernment, Monarchy29 Comments
Consider this: His Majesty the King issued a Kasho yesterday granting Nu 200 million towards the reconstruction of the Wangduephodrang Dzong. Nu 100 million was granted from the armed forces, and Nu 100 million from His Majesty's Kidu Foundation. Now consider this: The government has allocated Nu 20 million per year to the Druk Gyalpo's Relief Fund until the balance reaches a ceiling of Nu 100 million. The Relief Fund was passed by the Parliament in the last session. Nu 20 million per year is woefully inadequate. I said so in the Parliament. And I wrote about it. How…

Extraordinary

July 5, 2012Posted inGovernment, Legislature21 Comments
Something extraordinary took place in the National Assembly last Tuesday. The government introduced the Land Bill 2012 in the Assembly. But they did not move a motion to deliberate the Bill, as was expected. Nor did they move a motion to withdraw the Bill in accordance with legislative procedure. Instead, the government proposed that the next Parliament deliberate the Bill. And the National Assembly endorsed the government's proposal. So what's out of the ordinary? One, the government introduced a bill that they never intended to discuss. But why would the government go through the trouble of introducing a bill,…

The power of the land

July 4, 2012Posted inGovernment, Legislature33 Comments
The following is a translation of my statement in the National Assembly yesterday: Today we are discussing a matter of profound significance – land. The historic First Parliament of Bhutan has already deliberated many issues of great importance. Today’s topic of discussion, concerning the amendment of the Land Act, is also extremely important. The decisions we take will have a long-term impact, for better or for worse, on our country and our people. It may appear that our kingdom has been blessed with plenty of land. This is true, but the amount of land actually available for agriculture and…

Taxing issues

July 2, 2012Posted inEconomy, Government12 Comments
The National Assembly passed the Tax Revision Bill last week. The Bill is now with the National Council. The Council will discuss the Bill, but, because it is a “money bill”, the Council can only make suggestions and recommendations that the National Assembly may, or may not, chose to accept. (Last year, the Assembly did not accept any of the Council’s recommendations on the budget and tax revision bills. In fact, the Assembly just skimmed through the recommendations, barely discussing them.) The National Assembly has passed the Tax Revision Bill. But, we didn’t discuss it properly. After the Bill…