Tshering Tobgay

Lobxang’s anger

July 31, 2009People

The following letter, from Lobxang, deserves attention. Lobxang works in New York. He keeps a blog. And is on Facebook. Dear OL, I was much pained to read in the news the tragic loss of seven promising kids in the Wangchuck River. My deepest respect and prayers goes to the lost souls and the bereaved family. I read again and over again every piece of information that I could find on the net. I am deeply pained at first, and now I am angry, very angry. Seven lives are lost. This is a national loss. His Majesty the fourth…

A big problem

July 31, 2009Health, Youth

We have a problem. In our last poll, 94% of you claimed to either know or think that drug abuse is already a problem in Bhutan. On the other hand, only 5% of you said that drug abuse is not a problem in our country. 1% admitted that they don’t have a clue. I suspected that substance abuse was growing, especially among out youth. But, I had no reason to think that it was already a problem. The poll results have forced me to rethink my views – that’s why I kept the poll up for so long. Next…

Solidarity

July 30, 2009Democracy, People

At about 3:30 AM last Monday, seven boys, all of them students of Tshimasham lower secondary school, lost their lives in the Wangchu. Tomorrow, a group of concerned citizens will participate in a solidarity walk to demonstrate their support to the families of the seven boys. They will also petition the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the tragic incident that claimed the young lives. I join the nation in mourning the loss of the innocent lives, and offer my condolences to the grieving families and friends.

Parliament rejects Civil Service Bill

July 29, 2009Legislature7 Comments

The joint sitting the Parliament adjourned an hour ago, at about 10:30 PM, having concluded the debate on the Civil Service Bill. The bill, an “urgent” bill, was also rejected by the joint sitting. Only five MPs supported the bill, 7 abstained, and 55 voted against it. Discussions on the bill started collapsing when major differences emerged over whether the judiciary should be completely independent, or whether the current civil servants in the judiciary should continue to be part of RCSC. So now what? According to the Constitution, His Majesty the King may command a national referendum if, in…

Parliament rejects LG bill

July 29, 2009Legislature8 Comments

BREAKING NEWS The Parliament, this morning, did not pass the Local Government (amendment) Bill. Of the 68 MPs present, 44 voted to for the bill, 23 voted against, and 1 abstained. The Hon’ble Speaker did not cast a vote. According to the Constitution, he can only cast a deciding vote. A bill is passed by simple majority when it is debated in the individual houses (the National Council and National Assembly). But, if the two houses cannot agree on the provisions of a bill, that bill is debated in a joint sitting. In which case, two-thirds of the members…

About Tshering

July 28, 2009Miscellaneous

A couple of months ago, I launched an “About” page in this blog. But, that page, till now, remained empty. Instead, it announced that a certain Tashi P. Wangdi was writing the content for the page. That content is now complete. So, if you go here, you’ll see what Tashi – better known as Tosh – has written about me.

About measures and incentives

July 27, 2009Economy

Last week, the government announced that they “…will be introducing measures to expand the revenue base.” And, that they are “…also considering fiscal incentives to stimulate the private sector growth…” These announcements were made, quietly, in the government’s National Budget for 2009-10. But, the budget report offered no details. These are significant financial policies. So, our government should elaborate what “measures” and “incentives” our people can expect during the coming year.

Poor villages

July 25, 2009Poverty, Villages

Our government estimates that 23.3% of our population live in poverty. And that the incidence of poverty in our villages is significantly higher than in our towns. In fact, the poverty rate in rural Bhutan is 30.9%. That is, almost one in every three of our villagers lives below the poverty line. Compare this to the urban poverty rate of just 1.7%, and it becomes clear that our villages need serious and immediate attention. But, the amount of money allocated to local governments, and hence to rural Bhutan, for this financial year, again, is negligible. Only 22.8% of the…

Farmers’ produce

July 25, 2009Economy, Villages

Our economy grew by 8.1% last year. That’s not the 9% growth per year promised by DPT. But, given all that happened in those 12 months, from a host of national celebrations to the global financial crisis, 8.1 is really not too bad. The share of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors to our GDP are 16%, 45% and 36% respectively. And, during the past year, the primary, or agriculture, sector grew by 1.7%; the secondary, or industry, sector grew by 7.5%; and the tertiary, or service, sector grew by 12.1%. These figures were given to the National Assembly…

Total eclipse of the sun

July 24, 2009Nature

I watched the solar eclipse, with my family and about a hundred other viewers, from Kuenselphodrang. By the time we got there, a little after 6 AM, it was already bright. But, the skies were overcast. And, as much as we hoped that the clouds would disappear over the eastern skies, they stood their ground, stubbornly. I secretly accepted that we wouldn’t be able to see the eclipse; that we'd miss the moment the moon overpowers the sun; and that we wouldn’t be able to put to use the eclipse glasses that we got, miraculously, only the night before.…

Our debt

July 23, 2009Economy, Government

Yesterday, the Finance Minister reported that Bhutan’s total debt outstanding is Nu 35,109.3 million. That’s about 56.7% of our GDP. In other words, every citizen owes Nu 64,000 of that debt. Or, assuming the average family has five members, every family would owe Nu 320,000. The good news is that most of that debt – about 61 per cent – consists of hydropower construction loans. These loans, we are told, will pay for themselves, and generate huge revenues for the government. Good. But, let’s not completely ignore the risks. An overdependence on one source of revenue – in this…

Poor planning

July 23, 2009Government

Yesterday, the National Assembly approved the revised budget estimates for the financial year 2008-09. Like the previous year (see earlier entry), the last financial year also saw a huge difference between the approved budget and the most recent revised estimates. This time, however, the difference was completely on the other side of the spectrum – the government expects to spend much, much more than what had been approved. How much more? The total outlay for 2008-09 approved by the National Assembly last year was Nu 21,096.281 million. The government’s revised estimate for 2008-09 is a whopping Nu 25,519.695. That’s…

In total darkness

July 21, 2009Economy

We'll be up by five tomorrow morning, to take in the total eclipse of the sun from Kuenselphodrang. Many of my neighbours – indeed, many Bhutanese – will also enjoy this very rare natural phenomenon when the moon completely blocks out the sun. Bhutan, after all, falls bang on the path of the total eclipse. But you won’t find many tourists. We didn’t market the occasion. The heavens have blessed Bhutan with the longest total eclipse, of about three minutes, in the 21st century. And we have not used it to boost tourism. The Finance Minister reported today that,…

Planning implementation

July 21, 2009Government2 Comments

Today the finance minister presented the National Budget bill for the year 2009 – 2010. I’ll post a few entries on the status of our kingdom’s finances in the next couple of days. Following the Finance Minister’s presentation, the National Assembly discussed the first part of the report, the annual financial statement for the financial year 2007 – 08. The budget for that year was prepared by the previous government. And, most of it was implemented by the interim government. The current government was in office for the final three months of that financial year. The total approved outlay…

Noble king

July 21, 2009Monarchy

A year ago, on 21 July, during the first sitting of the Parliament after the signing of the Constitution, I proposed a motion to nominate His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo for the Nobel Peace Prize. To recall the importance of that motion, I’m featuring a photograph of our beloved kings, taken during the signing of the Constitution, in the banner. And, I’m posting a rough translation of the statement I made in the Parliament last year. On the 15th day of the 5th month of our calendar, His Majesty the King affixed his signature, in pure gold, to…