The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The party had earlier demanded that their 15-point grievances be addressed for the 15 elected party members to take up office
After a selected team of twenty party representatives received an audience with His Majesty the King on July 21, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) decided to take up the role of Opposition in the National Assembly of the second Parliament. This was revealed to local reporters by 10 party workers, including an elected candidate Kinga Tshering from North Thimphu.
Kinga Tshering said the party would like to submit its utmost gratitude to His Majesty the King for his benevolent and far sighted guidance and leadership, and for graciously consenting to review the petition submitted by DPT.
The party on July 19, after reviewing suggestion and views, decided to submit a list of 15 issues to His Majesty the King through a selected group of 20 from among the supporters and members.
The DPT members were adamant to have their 15-point grievances addressed, and only then, would it agree to have the 15 elected members of the party to take on their role as the Opposition in the Parliament.
The decision to accept the role of Opposition was made at the party’s executive committee meeting, after the audience with His Majesty.
“His Majesty has commanded that the petition will be reviewed through relevant agencies. And with the reassurances from the Throne, DPT feel that we will be able to participate in the democratic process as the Opposition,” Kinga Tshering said.
The party’s Thimphu dzongkhag coordinator, Dago Tshering said His Majesty has assured them that the matter will be looked into, and the Election Commission (ECB) has been instructed to work on it accordingly.
Kinga Tshering said the party feels fully reassured and confident about their meaningful participation as the Opposition party in the Parliament.
A DPT party coordinator said that if these issues of corruption were not addressed today, then people will most likely resort to similar tactics in future elections.
“The danger is, this will be a part of the process, the very trends we always wanted to avoid in the Bhutanese politics,” he said.
Some party members present at the press conference said such events have affected the outcome of the 2013 general elections.
DPT party workers feared that if these issues were not addressed at this point in time, it was going to grow worse in the future and all the more difficult to mend.
The DPT party will nominate and elect their Opposition Leader from its 15 elected candidates during the party’s executive committee meeting, which is expected to be held soon.
According to some sources, the former agriculture minister Dr Pema Gyamtsho is likely to be elected as the Opposition Leader. This has yet to be confirmed.
DPT’s North Thimphu candidate, Kinga Tshering said the disputation was not because of the outcome of the election result, but the 15 points of issues that were listed during the party’s two-day meeting on July 17 and July 18, which were reinforced during its party convention of July 19.
