National Assembly Act Amendment
By a show of hands the National
Assembly voted to amend its own Act as under:
1.
A National Assembly member will have to refund the
General Election campaign fund the state provides if he or she voluntarily
resign before assuming responsibilities.
2.
An elected member may resign on grounds of physical
disability or mental incapacity.
This amendment puts to a tame end
to the furor of the ruling PDP Party against the resignation of former DPT
President. In my opinion, it was all a most unnecessary and irrelevant furor. In
other countries a Political Party would rejoice if the leader of the rival
party resigns or is ousted after a General Election. However, in Bhutan, this
does not seem to be the political attitude. The amendment cannot have retrospective impact
on the resignation of former DPT President. And it raises the issue of
authority for that period between declaration of General Election results and Swearing
in of elected members of National Assembly. An un-constituted National Assembly
cannot exercise power over that time period of political ‘Bardo’. This in-between
space of time is a kind of no man land between the Election Commission and
National Assembly.
I invite the Legislators of National
Assembly to a closer examination of the Constitution. The National Council is
designed to be a continuous House and more over His Majesty the King is also
part of the Parliament. Therefore, the Parliament of Bhutan is never fully
dissolved. It is only the National Assembly part of the Parliament that remains
dissolved until it is reconstituted after the General Election. An MP elect
cannot be held answerable to a non-constituted National Assembly and the
National Assembly Secretariat does not have the necessary power to deal with
the resignation of an MP elect. The National Assembly Secretary could submit
such resignation case of MP elect to His Majesty the King for appropriate
decision. The Constitution might not provide all details in black and white but
the way it is designed seems to reflect that the powers of the vacated
Constitutional post or Body until reconstituted would revert back to His Majesty
the Constitutional King. The members of
the Interim Government headed by the Chief Justice of Supreme Court are
appointed by His Majesty and the members of NC and the Cabinet are given Dhar
by the King.
UN Happiness Day verses Gross National Happiness Day
The 2nd National
Assembly of Democratic Bhutan has decided to acknowledge the UN Happiness Day
of 20th March but do away with the national holiday that was
instituted by the 1st Parliament. It also decided to dedicate 11th
November as a GNH Day in addition to the already dedicated Children’s Day and
celebration of the Birth Day of His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck.
As a Bhutanese citizen and an
admirer of the GNH philosophy of the 4th King, I am deeply grateful
and vastly appreciative of the President of United Nations General Assembly for
declaring the UN Happiness Day. It is a great world tribute to our King and
Kingdom. And as I did last year, I shall light a butter lamp this coming 20th
March, 2014 to celebrate with the rest of the world the philosophy of Happiness
being central to good Governance as so advocated by a great King who came upon
the Dragon Throne of Bhutan in 1972.
The Tobacco Law
This draconian Law needs to be
vanquished because it is creating a kind of social holocaust for the have not
masses. Tobacco is legally affordable only by those with money and time to
spare. An ordinary Bhutanese citizen cannot devote 3-8 days in a month to visit
border towns of India to procure in person the legally permissible monthly tobacco
quota. It is not permissible to buy 12 months quota at one go. And no other persons
even close relatives, off-springs, siblings or parents can buy the quota for another
family member. The Law was designed to demonstrate the powers of the new political
elites and the helplessness of the poor masses. Tobacco and Doma is a pleasure for
the well offs and a refuge of stress relief for the poor. The Legislators who
are supposed to represent all walks of Bhutanese have one choice: vanquish the
Tobacco Law or vanquish Tobacco altogether.
Indian Politics
The 2014 General Election in
India will not only determine the economic progress of India but also its
relations with other countries. Presently the political game in India is at a
stalemate. The Pundits are quite perplexed by the new populist AAP Party. Could
AAP Party + Congress steal the thunder from Modi led BJP? One thing seems clear.
Rahul Gandhi’s position has been weakened since the day he so crudely and
brutally attacked UPA Cabinet and Prime Minister and publicly tore the
political ordinance on corrupt politicians. And now his high moral stand has
been proved shallow by his partnership with Lalu Yadav of fodder scam (Personally
I find Lalu Yadav a fascinating character with exceptional political acumen). Recently
a UPA member NCP has called upon Rahul Gandhi to respect the Supreme Court
verdict on Modi and AAP Party has called for the reinvestigation of 1984 Delhi
anti-Sikh riots.
The Syrian war
The Syrian Government delegation
has not agreed to discuss the issue of Transition Government but Talks are
being held with the Opposition Parties. The fact that the two sides are meeting
is in itself a hopeful sign but as long as the Opposition insist on the removal
of Al Assad, there may never be a peaceful settlement. Russia and America may have
to work out a dignified position of less political influence for Assad before a
political settlement between the warring parties can be negotiated.
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring is experiencing its
winter especially in Egypt. The Army is now preparing to consolidate its power
in civilian suit with the Army Chief proposed to be a presidential candidate. It
seems Revolutions in Middle East do not lead to Democracy. It’s simply more chaos.
Thailand and Democracy
Come 2nd February,
2014, Thailand will decide who will occupy the relic position - Rule of Democracy
or Rule of ancient Elite. It seems that the people in majority prefer the ballot
box to settle the score and the Thai Army has for now decided to support the
Government’s decision to go ahead with the polls. Whatever happens, Bangkok
would still be a popular destination for many Bhutanese shoppers and I wish the
people of Thailand Peace and good Business.
The Polar Freeze
For quite some time, environmentalists
have been citing the polar ice melting as a sign of Global Warming. This Winter
the opposite is happening. There is over freezing of both South and North Pole
regions. It just proves that mankind is still far behind in unraveling the
mystery of the Creator. May be the world is in danger of either being deeply
frozen or deeply fried.
