Two weeks ago, I accidentally telephoned Passang Dorji, the chief reporter at The Journalist. I’d meant to call someone else. But somehow, I dialed Passang’s number instead. So we made use of the unforeseen opportunity to catch up.
I asked how he was doing. And how their new company, The Journalist, was faring. He replied that [...]
Should civil servants be allowed to express adverse opinions about the Government? 93% of those that took the the last poll answered with a resounding “Yes!”
Now our polls are not scientific, and their results may not necessarily represent popular opinion. Still, and particularly on this issue, legislators, the Government and the RCSC would do well [...]
Yesterday’s workshop on human rights awareness confirmed what most of us already suspect: that we don’t have serious human rights violations, but that, occasionally, human rights do get inadvertently sidelined.
Dasho Damcho Dorji, who is the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Human Rights Committee, explained that instances of human rights violations were isolated and that they [...]
Our last poll asked: “What legislation to control smoking would work?”
Most of you (58%) said: Allow sales, but at higher prices. 31% said: Ban sales and ban smoking. And, only 11% said: Ban sales but allow smoking.
Parliament has, however, already decided that the sale of tobacco products inside our country will be illegal. Though the [...]
Last month, when, at the end of the Parliament’s Fourth Session, the National Assembly approved salary increases for MPs, I had complained that:
Parliament does not have the powers to consider or grant pay increases unilaterally. Instead, according to the Constitution, it’s the Pay Commission’s job to recommend increases in the salaries and allowances of public [...]
How on Earth could an Honourable Member of Parliament claim that: “From our point of view, the MP’s pay was never fixed and the 20 percent hike was only a hike on an interim and not the fixed pay.”
And, how on Earth could another Honourable Member of Parliament point to the finance secretary’s letter of [...]
The National Assembly’s decision to increase the salaries of MPs has caused widespread public outrage. Rightfully so. Not one person has registered support for the pay increase in any of the online discussion forums, including this blog where, in my last entry, I had suggested that the pay increase could be illegal. Since then, I’ve [...]
How is it that the media – the press and television – reported that the proposal to increase the salaries of MPs originated in the National Council? The National Council session was broadcast on live TV, yet no one saw them discuss the salary increase. No one saw it, because it hadn’t been discussed in [...]
Last December, I suggested that we should greet the Pay Commission’s recommendation to give politicians a big raise with surprise and suspicion.
Less than three weeks later, we were given the Government’s pay revision report. The Government had revised the Pay Commission’s report substantially. In fact, the Government modified the Commission’s report beyond recognition. But, I [...]
I salute the Cabinet ministers for attending the National Council’s Question Time. The NC’s Chairperson was quoted as declaring:
this session was a remarkable one as three cabinet ministers from the ruling party actually visited the house to answer queries during Question Time of the session. They were labour minister Lyonpo Dorji wangdi; finance minister Lyonpo [...]
Tshering Tobgay is a Member of Parliament representing Sombaykha Constitutency in Haa. He is the Leader of the Opposition Party in the National Assembly of Bhutan.
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