DEMOCRACY IN ACTION

The Bhutan Education City Bill was passed by the National Assembly on June 28 with all members except two voting for the bill by show of hands. The two opposition MPs were the only two members who didn’t raise their hands. The house unanimously acknowledged and incorporated all the changes …

The proposal to form a special committee called Poverty Reduction Committee (PRC) which would ‘review chronic land related issues in the country an eradicate poverty’ has been put on hold. The special committee would also review and look into the land related cases which are with the Anti-Corruption Commission and …

The misuse of power by the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) was a topical discussion, deliberated at length in the National Assembly (NA) last week. The issue was raised by the Kabji-Talo MP, Tshering Penjor. The house deliberated on two cases.  One pertained to the Drukair pilot, Sonam Tobgay and the …

The political party members believe the success of a party could be determined to an extent by its manifesto. The two existing parties People Democratic Party (PDP) and Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), the new parties Druk Chirwang Tshogpa (DCT), Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) and Bhutan Kuenyam Party (BKP) are all …

The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) has cleared off its debt before the June 30 deadline with the payment of its left over dues of approximately Nu 600,000 with Bhutan Times. The DPT treasurer, Tshewang Rinzin said the left over balance with Bhutan Times was entirely the cost the party incurred …

The National Council (NC) as well as the National Assembly (NA) discussed the need for pension for Members of Parliament (MP) after completion of their term during discussions on the Parliamentary Entitlements Rules and Regulation. Members of the general public – the electorate have received it with raised eyebrows and …

The deadline of June 30 looms large over the ruling party and the opposition to clear their debts with financial institutions and private companies. The parties will have to honor the election commission’s criteria of clearing all debts. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) still has an outstanding debt of Nu …

The Department of Disaster Management (DDM) has reported that the scale of damages caused by Wednesday’s flash flood in Gasa is still unknown. Director General (DG) of Department of Disaster Management Namgay Wangchuk said because of inaccessibility towards the field study extent of damages cannot be known. “Our Dzongkhag team …

None of the new political parties have formally registered with the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) as of yet. This means that the ruling party and the opposition are the only bonafide political parties. However, the commission hopes that by July interested members will come forward to register as political …

The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) is currently on the path to draft a social media policy for the political parties. The objective of the social media policy is to promote the use of media for effective communication among the electoral stakeholders in a responsible manner, to ensure there is …