GNH vs GDP

July 3, 2010Posted inGovernment8 Comments
How important is GNH to the government? In the prime minister’s State of the Nation address (which, incidentally, sounded more like a political campaign speech than a statement by the head of government) GNH was mentioned 14 times. Plus he made 6 separate references to happiness. On the other hand, he mentioned GDP just once, and that to caution against being “swayed onto the GNP/GDP path.” How important, in reality, is GNH to the government? In the finance minister’s budget report (which explains how the government will finance its policies) GDP was mentioned no less than 46 times. And…

Dasho Damcho on LG

April 15, 2010Posted inGovernment, Local Government
“Where is Dasho Damcho la …” enquired Sonam_t commenting on my open letter to the Dasho Dzongdags. “Where is honourable Damcho?” echoed Tangba. Dasho Damcho's recent response to their queries follows: Dear Sonam_t and Tangba, Thanks for your concern. I am still sticking around but like to keep a low profile. The issue that Hon’ble OL has raised was discussed with me and was discussed several times in the preceding NA Sessions as well. Unfortunately, most people are not aware of it because of absence of live telecast and the papers were not interested in covering these issues in…

Open Letter to Dasho Dzongdags

April 2, 2010Posted inLocal Government
Dear Dasho: I am writing about a matter of grave importance: the involvement of political parties in local governments. You will recall that, during your recent annual conference, the Prime Minister called for party workers to be involved in the development process at the local levels. And, that he requested for party workers to be invited to observe the sessions of the local governments. Article 22 of the Constitution clearly defines the powers, objectives, structure and functions of local governments. It also ensures that local governments remain nonpartisan. As such, political parties cannot be directly involved in the development…

Doubtful PM

March 6, 2010Posted inEconomy, Government
More than decade has already passed since the start of Bhutan’s accession process to the WTO. And many of our current ministers have been involved throughout the process. So I find it strange that, after all these years, one of them, the prime minister, is “still unsure” about joining the WTO. What do you think? Should we join or not? Or are you also “still unsure”? Take our poll that asks, “Should Bhutan join the WTO?” Caricature by Bhutan Observer

Accountability matters

March 4, 2010Posted inGovernment
The government is yet to issue an official statement rescinding the prime minister’s executive order of 13 November 2009 that liberalized tourist tariffs. Meanwhile, a big majority of the people (57%) who took our poll think that the prime minister should be held accountable for trying to liberalize the tourist tariff. 26% held TCB accountable. And only 17% blamed McKinsey. I agree with the results of our poll. No matter what, if any, consultations led to the big shift in tourism policy, ultimately it was the cabinet, particularly the prime minister, who approved the tariff liberalization. And who signed…

Accountability

February 28, 2010Posted inGovernment8 Comments
The Tourism Council of Bhutan, it seems, has been made the scapegoat for spearheading the Government’s policy to liberalize tourist tariffs. Several of the people who attended last Wednesday’s meeting with the PM blamed TCB for not having consulted the stakeholders sufficiently, and for not having briefed our head of government properly. But was it really mainly TCB’s fault? Or were they, in fact, merely trying their best, as civil servants, to obey the Executive Order, signed by the PM, of their political masters of the day? And was it McKinsey who, in reality, sold the idea, directly to…

Flip-flop

February 26, 2010Posted inEconomy, Government
I’m happy that the Government has revoked its decision to liberalize tourist tariffs. And that it has decided instead to increase the minimum tourist tariff to US$ 250 per night from 2011 onwards. Liberalizing tourist tariffs would have undermined Bhutan’s valuable brand image and affected our economy and society significantly. But I’m alarmed at how the Government changed its decision. Just one meeting with stakeholders and the Prime Minister decides, during that meeting itself, that liberalizing tourist tariffs is not such a good idea. Just a simple show of hands of those present at the meeting, and the PM…

Up for adoption?

February 16, 2010Posted inEconomy
That Ratan Tata has said that he is interested in investing in Bhutan may or may not be good for us. That will depend on how the Government eventually finalizes its foreign direct investment policy. But the Prime Minister, it appears, has already decided that Tata will be good for us. In fact, he’d gone so far as to tell the Chairman of the Tata Group that: “A country like Bhutan would be happy to be adopted by Tata”. And to make certain that Ratan Tata did not miss the Government’s invitation for adoption, all our major newspapers –…

Beware

February 7, 2010Posted inMedia
The short entry about the appointment of Tenzin Rigden as the PM’s media advisor generated some long and heated discussions. Very good. But now what? First, the media must beware. By Tenzin Rigden’s own admission he has deep connections in the media: … here are the facts – worked in Kuensel for 10 years; started and ran BT for three years (yes, I still own 10% BT shares if there is any value at all now); the owner of Bhutan Today is my first cousin and its CEO my nephew; the editors of Business Bhutan are friends and former…

Hijacking democracy

December 18, 2009Posted inDemocracy, Government
BBS reports that the Prime Minister, in his National Day address in Mongar, cautioned the people about threats to our democracy. On democracy, the Prime Minister said the threats to democracy are mainly from within, reminding the people to be aware of divisive politics for personal gain. He said in many countries in the world, democracy has been hijacked by people who seek power and privilege. I agree with our Prime Minister. I agree with him one hundred percent. We must never allow our democracy to be hijacked by people who seek power and privilege!

Bringing GNH home

November 30, 2009Posted inGovernment13 Comments
GNH is synonymous with Bhutan. So it’s important for us to participate in and contribute to the growing international knowledge base on GNH. Still, I was a little concerned when, recently, our prime minister personally led a 24-member delegation to a GNH conference in Brazil. After all, it had been barely 10 weeks since he had visited Japan to tell them about GNH. Like some, I felt that the PM should have been in attendance when the nation’s highest legislative body was in session. Like others, I believed that he should have stayed behind to help victims of the…

Chhimi visits PM’s visits

September 14, 2009Posted inGovernment
Chhimi Dorji gets upset every time our prime minister travels abroad. It’s not that he’s against the head of the government visiting other countries. What bothers him is the number of people who see off and receive our PM. This photograph in Kuensel prompted Chhimi to send me this article.

Missing in representation

January 14, 2009Posted inDemocracy
The day before yesterday we debated an important issue: roads. Roads are important as they are the lifeline of our country, and the only proven way out of poverty.We debated this important issue because the public wanted us, their representatives, to talk about the need to improve and streamline the technical designs of the nation’s roads.Who raised the issue? The public of Pemagatshel. Specifically, the people of Nanong-Shumar, and Khar-Yurung constituencies in Pemagatshel.So I thought it was odd that the MPs representing these two constituencies were both absent. They were not there to introduce the issue or to contribute…

Our PM’s report

December 25, 2008Posted inGovernment
Yesterday, during the opening day of the National Assembly’s second sitting, our PM submitted his report on the performance of the government.His report did not touch on the government’s performance in the social sectors and on the economy. Too bad. It was a good opportunity to showcase the successes of the government in these areas. Unless, of course, there hasn’t been enough successes to speak about.But, on the one hand, the new government has been in office for only eight months – it probably needs more time to prove that it is keeping the promises that it has made.One…