What really is at stake on the outcome of RCSC decision on COS versus Cabinet?

It took several years for the DPT Cabinet to agree to the formation of Committee of Secretaries and it took just over a year for PDP Cabinet to dissolve this very same  official administrative body the Committee of Secretaries. So it does not take any deep thinking to guess what really is behind all this political sham.

It is ludicrous for Cabinet to deny any knowledge of COS decision when it was clearly decided by the COS  to inform the  Cabinet through its Chairman the Cabinet Secretary. The Cabinet Secretary would have to be a donkey to keep the Cabinet in the dark and at the same time issue an official directive in writing as Cabinet Secretary to the Foreign Secretary to act. How could RCSC nominate and the King approve such an " idiot" to the post of a Government Secretary?

It is however possible that the Prime Minister may not have personally desired to communicate with Indian Government but had refrained from giving  clear or definite order to the Cabinet Secretary when he was briefed on the decision of COS. Silence or no remark can be construed as go ahead or having  no objection. And as for the words spoken by the Cabinet spokes Minister to BBS, these claims just do not make administrative sense. It begs to be interpreted as political hogwash. I had high regards for his intellectual capacity during Primary Election campaign on occasions when he represented his Party in the political parties discussion forums. In fact I thought that Lyonpo Norbu Wangchuk had led the structural organization of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa his original Party.

It is not relevant for Foreign Secretary to inform or discuss an order from the Cabinet with his Minister because the Cabinet consist of Council of Ministers and so the Foreign Minister is a Member of Cabinet whose decision or directive would be conveyed by the Cabinet Secretary. If it was deemed that the Cabinet Secretary acted on his own then he alone should have been held accountable.

What parallel Government is being hinted at? Is the PDP formed Cabinet accusing the Secretaries of working for the Opposition Party which never had a hand in appointing the Secretaries or for the King who extended their initial term of 5 years of service or for Modi Government to whom  the letter of request was addressed ? Such loaded political accusation cannot be based on just one letter of request to India to caution the Indian NGO which is bent on reckless path to malign the economic partnership between two friendly Countries as conduit of bilateral corruption.

The  above summation is just a background to what is really at stake hereafter.

Now what can happen hereafter if a Cabinet formed by the ruling  Political Party can under any make believe reasons  break the backbone of the Bureaucracy at its whim and fancy now and in future?

1, All said and done almost all Secretaries, Director Generals or any in Executive grade would want to protect their service as much as the other subordinates. When civil servants are viciously trampled over to teach who is really their Boss, there is only one open path. That is give total reverence and obedience to the Political Party in power. Tsawa Sum is a luxury that few can even risk in their hearts to think of under the present scenario.

2, The faith in RCSC would be diluted. Love, Loyalty and Respect for the Nation, the People and the King is not going to protect any civil servant if the Cabinet can just toss off Government Secretaries like dead rats for doing their job which on a second thought the Cabinet in retrospection  realised to be politically embarrassing and probably decided to disown effectively. Many spectators must be wandering what really spooked the honourable Prime Minister and his Political allies after 11 days of Government writing the letter through the Foreign Ministry?

3. One is tempted to presume that the PDP Party which has accused DPT Party to be anti Monarchy would never do anything to undercut the Royal Shine ( aura and influence through people's reverence ). However this Cabinet cannibalism of bureaucracy head has set a very dangerous precedent. From henceforth regardless of the King extolling the civil servants to be true to the Tsawa Sum, the bureaucracy will have to opt to do as directed by the political Party even if by doing so they feel Tsawa Sum may be betrayed. Further every nuances, directives and orders and discussions must be signed and sealed down the administrative line in the event the superior denies responsibilities later on.

There would be national administration chaos if in future a Political Party that is anti sovereignty ( meaning placing Party interest before Tsawa Sum ) comes to power. With the docile cooperation of a thoroughly humiliated and defeated Bureaucracy, the faith and trust that Bhutanese People have for the Throne can be easily subverted by an ambitious Cabinet. Even a great King would be helpless if the heart of national administrative machinery is totally in the palm of an unscrupulous Cabinet. Therefore it will never serve the interest of Bhutan to subject the Bureaucracy to such unjustified and callous attacks unless act of treason is proved against the COS through the process of RCSC investigation or evaluation. A humiliated and devoid of dignity civil service cadre cannot be relied upon to efficiently and justly serve the Tsawa Sum.

It will not be the whole world but there would be variety of spectators awaiting with interest the outcome of RCSC evaluation and decision. The preliminary response has been laudably dignified though much delayed. The task is now to establish grounds to  reinstate or legal action against treasonable collusion. Most might already be expecting a face saving compromise or political damage control effort. All said or expected the undeniable fact is that it is a harrowing national experience.