Getting the political parties to come out of their closets was hard enough, now the candidates are flying below the radar so that there is a ‘safe’ time for them to appear publicly The political scene faces a dearth of potential candidates and reasons are many, but no one would …
Read More »PDP not just a show horse, OL
The horse is saddled and the stirrup is set, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has tightened its reigns, with acquired skills from the last elections and the party is raring to go. The PDP has started strengthening its institution in two fronts; fund raising and voluntary contributions, and strengthening its …
Read More »RTI in Bhutan: not the end but the beginning
Sangay Khandu An intent to introduce the RTI Bill along with a draft was submitted to Honorable Thrizin on March 16, 2012 for debate in the 9th session of Parliament and subsequently distributed to all other Honorable Members of the National Council. The Honorable Chairperson then forwarded the draft to the Legislative Committee for comments. …
Read More »RTI Bill to die an early death in the National Council
The Draft Right to Information (RTI) Bill, drafted by National Council (NC) member Sangay Khandu as a private members bill is likely to perish at its preliminary stage, given the poor response of National Council MPs. During the 63rd plenary session of the NC, on 4th May 2012, the legislative committee …
Read More »PDP MP Damcho Dorji ready to join a new party if PDP does not make it past the primary round
His only condition is that he will not join the DPT An important issue emerging in the upcoming 2013 elections is on what candidates would do if their parties do not make it past the primary round. While there is speculation that some candidates of losing parties are planning to …
Read More »The underside of Elections in 2013
While the 2013 elections are an important part of Bhutanese democracy there are also several, less than desirable, political, social, economic and other effects. In the social sense it is once again a time where communities and families still recovering from the political divisions of 2008 will once again …
Read More »Will the civil service work its magic in 2013?
The civil servants were credited hugely for the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa victory in the 2008 elections; now with increased numbers, will they have a major say in influencing the 2013 election results? The strength of Civil Servants as on 31st December 2011 was 23,151 comprising of 22,170 as regular Civil …
Read More »Druk Mitser Tshogpa approaches BMF Director for the Party President’s post
Druk Mitser Tshogpa has approached Executive Director of Bhutan Media Foundation Lily Wangchuk to be the party president. “The party president will be a woman as we respect women and emphasize on taking care of our youth,” said a party member of Druk Mitser Tshogpa, Tandin Tshering According to the …
Read More »Democracy and political prospects in 2013
With four political parties now and 2013 nearing the political scene is getting warmer. In the first parliamentary elections, the People’s Democratic Party was a strong favorite with many predicting a PDP win. This was while the underdog, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa went about its rounds in what many say was …
Read More »A lesson from Maldives
We do not pay much attention to events happening in countries like Maldives. It is so far away and we really do not have much to do with it! However, I find an instructive lesson to be learnt from recent political crisis that has engulfed this small island nation with …
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