Questioning questions...

The National Council had summoned two ministers – Lyonpo Thakur Singh Powdyel and Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba – to attend Question Time yesterday. Both of them didn’t show up. So the Council adjourned for the hour earmarked for Question Time.

By now, it’s safe to assume that the Council will continue to hold Question Time, which they have scheduled on Tuesdays and Fridays. And, that they will continue to expect cabinet ministers to attend to deliver their answers in person. But it’s also safe to assume to our cabinet ministers will not attend the National Council’s Question Time.

Last Friday, Kuensel gave us glowing accounts of the successful meeting between our prime minister and members of the National Council to “clear up misunderstanding and facilitate dialogue”. But it’s becoming clear that’s all’s not hunky-dory: the misunderstanding – if the current standoff can be called that – between cabinet ministers and the Council persists. Or, perhaps, this issue was not discussed at all. Either way, it’s important that the Council and the Cabinet meet again.

It’s important for democracy. And it’s important for our people.

Double vision...

The editorial in the Dzongkha edition of the Kuensel this morning confused me. The editorial denounced the National Council’s decision to legalize the sale of tobacco through high taxes. And, it called on the National Assembly to overturn the Council’s decision and endorse the Tobacco Control Bill.

Why was I confused? Because yesterday’s English edition of the Kuensel carried an editorial applauding the National Council’s decision to legalize the sale of tobacco products through high taxation policies.

Editorials represent a newspaper’s stand – their point of view – on important issues. So, obviously, a newspaper’s opinion on a particular issue, especially if conveyed in different languages, must be consistent. Otherwise, they risk confusing the reader. And, losing their credibility.

Seeing ‘dungs’ and ‘ja...

Did Linda see the "jalings"?

Tan, Archibad, Tshewang, I_am_glad_I_didn’t_vote, GoodToSeePM&OLLaughing&Talking(aspiring), Tshewang Rinzin, The Postman, Karma CW, Ping­ pong and Namgay all identified the picture correctly and collectively screamed that “The big picture” was a pair of dhung chen, the beautiful long horns used by our monks.

The flood of correct answers prompted one reader, Linda Wangmo, to try to distract other readers by pointing out that the picture could be a close-up of a pair of jalings. Only one, SonanG, seems to have fallen for Linda Wangmo’s trap.

One reader, Nedag, berated me for posting a picture that was “…too easy” and called for “…more challenging” ones. And that’s exactly what I’ll need to do.

All of you deserve prizes. But Tan was first. Tan was correct. And Tan was straightforward. So, I’m awarding the prize to Tan. Congratulations! Please let me know, by email, where I should send your prize.

I’ve learnt two lessons from “The big picture – 2”. One, that the clue was obvious, which made the challenge too easy. And two, that our readers have a thorough awareness of our rich culture and traditions. The picture of the dhungs was taken during the Tendrel Tsechu in Tashichhodzong last month.

On lesson number one, I will, as Nedag advised, post more challenging challenges. But you can help too. If you have any photograph that you’d like to feature in “The big picture”, please email it to me. But you’ll need to sponsor the prize too. Otherwise, the incentives may not be right!

The big picture – 2...

Good for us

Here’s another challenge.

The first one to correctly identify what the picture shows wins a commemorative Nu 100 coin celebrating His Majesty’s the King’s coronation last year.

I’ve decided to hold these challenges every now and then to add some much needed life to this blog of ours.  So don’t look for clues in the title!

Yangphel’s record...

Old archers

Yesterday, Tob Dhen Dhey accomplished what many archers considered the impossible: they shattered the 60-karey barrier by hitting 61 kareys in 15 rounds. That’s an average of 12.2 kareys per person. That’s an average of 4.07 team kareys per round. That’s impossible to beat.

Yangphel has already entered Tob Dhen Dhey’s 61 kareys in their record books. Obviously all the Tob Dhen Dhey archers performed well. In fact, no one hit less than 10 kareys! And Ata Sonam hit 17 kareys in 15 rounds. That’s one short of the record held by Forest Namgay, Gem Tshering and Karma Tenzin.

The photo in the banner shows five old friends, four of them in their eighties, enjoying our national sport. They spent the whole day today, together, in Paro’s main archery range watching an exciting game between a team from Paro and one from Thimphu. I played for Team Thimphu. And had the pleasure of shooting in Paro’s old and historic bacho for my very first time.

Yangphel’s gift...

A record 154 teams are participating in the 13^th Yangphel Archery Tournament that began last Saturday. During the “league phase” of the tournament, each team will play three matches. And three teams compete against each other in match. So the stadium in Changlimithang will see a total of 154 league matches over six weeks.

This year, for the first time since Yangphel started its tournament 13 years ago, the teams that qualify for the “knockout phase” will need to win two matches in order to get to the quarterfinal stage. Till last year, one win in the knockout phase would take a team to the quarterfinals. The tournament format had to be modified to accommodate the increasing number of teams showing up at Yangphel’s.

The tournament is obviously getting bigger. And that’s partly because of the attractive prizes. This year, again, the best archer will drive away in a brand new car, sponsored by Zimdra Automobiles. And, the archers reaching the finals can expect to win expensive household appliances that have become a trademark of the Yangphel tournaments.

But, it’s not just the prizes that make Yangphel-style archery popular. It’s the format too. The shorter, quicker-paced version of our traditional sport, combined with the unpredictability of sum-zing has made Yangphel style archery popular throughout our country. And, that’s why several dzonghags already host their own Yangphel Tournaments.

Yangphel archery, by the way, was adapted from sum-zing by Yangphel’s proprietor Dasho Ugyen Rinzin. In sum-zing, a short game played while practicing archery, three archers compete against each other. In Yangphel’s version, three teams, each having five archers, shoot fifteen rounds to determine the winner. Tshewang Rinchen, a tour guide with Yangphel who is the secretary general of Yangphel Archery, tells me that Dasho Ugyen introduced the tournament to promote our national sport. And, to gift it to the people of Bhutan.

Now, with Chanlimithang seeing non-stop excitement and drama till the finals are played on 12^th September, there’s a lot of gift to enjoy.

Dangerous nonsense...

road to nowhere?

The first item on the National Council’s agenda today is Question Time. And they’ve summoned our finance minister to answer, in person, questions that have been sent to him ten days ago. I predict that our finance minister will not show up at the National Council. He will not respect their summons.

Yes, we are, in many ways, still transitioning to a democracy, hopefully to one that’s honest, robust and vibrant. But, this brinkmanship playing out between our government and the Council cannot be blamed on transition. What we are witnessing is the lack of decency, and the absolute disregard for principles of democracy.

This is dangerous. And, especially so in the land of GNH, where relationships are supposedly the bedrock of our happiness.

Please! Stop this nonsense.

Turn on that switch!...

The signal stops here

It’s been one week since the National Assembly discontinued live TV coverage of its proceedings. And most of us have now resigned to the fact that the National Assembly’s discussions are not broadcast on live TV.

Not our villagers though. I still receive calls to appeal, on their behalf, for resumption of live coverage – on radio and TV – of the Assembly’s proceedings. Today, for instance, Tashi Gyeltshen telephoned me. Tashi is from remote Merak in Trashigang. And he’s a yak herder. He called to tell me that he wants to listen to the Assembly sessions on his radio. And, that he misses watching the sessions on live TV when he visits his gewog centre.

Incidentally, that TV set, complete with satellite dish and generator, was installed by the government to increase the public’s participation in the democratic process. In fact, every one of our 205 gewogs, including the remotest ones, were similarly equipped to allow our people to learn about and contribute to His Majesty the King’s vision of a vibrant democracy.

And then there are the BBS cameramen. Three of them are still stationed strategically, to cover every moment of the Assembly’s debates. They don’t sit. They can’t sit. They are on their feet, hours on end, operating their cameras that send live TV signals to the outdoor broadcasting van parked outside the Parliament. All that prevents the TV signals from going any further is the microwave transmitter switch in the OB Van.

Turn on that switch, and the TV signals would be instantaneously transmitted to the signal receiver tower in Sangaygang. From there, fibre optic cables would carry the signals to the BBS’s National TV Centre in Chubachu, where  the satelite earth station would beam them to INSAT4 A, an Indian satellite that BBS is allowed to use free of charge. That satellite would beam the signals right back to earth, and to Merak, where the live TV images would be received on their satellite dish. And, viewed by Tashi Gyeltshen the next time he visits his gewog centre.

On behalf of all the Tashi Gyeltshen’s in all our villages, I appeal to our honourable speaker and the members of parliament to allow the resumption of live TV and radio broadcast. And on behalf of the media I say: let BBS turn on that switch!

Civil service bill...

Earlier today, at about 4:30 PM, after four days of discussions, we decided to conclude the deliberations on the Civil Service Bill. The bill will be adopted tomorrow morning. It will then be forwarded to the National Council.

But I’m still confused.

On day one of the discussions, we decided to remove Section 2(d) of the bill. This section repeals all sections of the Judicial Service Act that pertain to personnel matters. So we removed it to protect the independence of the judiciary. But on day two, the section was reinserted in order to ensure parity in personnel policies among all branches of the government. And today, the section was removed yet again.

I’m satisfied that section 2(d) will be removed, that the sections of the Judicial Service Act that pertain to personnel matters will not be repealed. After all, how can the judiciary be truly independent if they do not have authority over their own human resources?

But, I’m concerned that the Civil Service Bill still infringes on the independence of the judiciary. The bill states that “Civil servants in all the three branches of the government, shall function in accordance with the policies, rules, regulations and procedures framed by the Royal Civil Service Commission”, and that the purpose of the legislation is to “provide an umbrella Civil Service Act to ensure parity, consistency and uniformity of personnel actions within the three branches of the Government.”

And, so I’m confused. The Judiciary Service Act gives the judiciary complete authority over personnel matters. But, the Civil Service Bill says that the judiciary’s personnel actions will be governed by the “umbrella” Civil Service Act.

Dangerous standoff...

So yesterday, it was our agriculture minister’s turn. He too didn’t show up for the National Council’s “Question Time”. And the Council had to adjourn, yet again.

The National Council Act, which we passed just last year, authorizes the Council to: “… summon any person to attend the proceedings of the National Council …” The act also empowers the National Council to “…call the attention of a minister to any matter of urgent public importance” and to “…question the Government during Question Time.”

If our ministers feel that they do not need to report to the National Council, they should explain that to them. It‘s a matter of common decency. And, a matter of the law.

But, if our ministers refuse to justify their absence, the National Council should call on them to explain why they need to attend the Council’s Question Time.

This standoff is unnecessary. And it is dangerous.