Five serving cabinet ministers are “seriously contemplating” on joining politics but have not identified which party to join, according to minister aka jangchu sempa.

“We have not promised our assurance to any party,” said the minister yesterday after the Assembly session. “It is not rumors that we are joining and we will declare which party we will join at the appropriate time,” he said. “Right now we are still serving ministers.”

This was quote from interview given by jangchu sempa recently. Bhutan Daily is opening this topic for any comments and discussions on wide range of candidates emerging for election in 2008. Readers are invited to post their views and comments on candidates.

The Doctors’ Outcry, story from Bhutan observer

This seems to be a genuine problem. On one side we need doctors, on other side if they are entitled to resignation (pay fine for those in bond period, or they may have completed bond period) is it fair to stop them?

THE POLITICAL GRUMBLE (Bhutan Observer story)

Thimphu: 29 June 2007 Yesterday, the All People’s Party (APP) questioned the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) seeking “clarification” about political parties campaigning even before the formal registration.

The submission asked whether parties are allowed to distribute membership forms prior to the registration. The Chief Election Commissioner, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi responded by saying that until the political parties are formally registered with ECB, the political parties does not exist and thus, the ECB was not mandated to respond.

Earlier, there were reports of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) supporters, mostly community leaders, distributing party registration forms throughout the country. There were reports from Bumthang, Trashigang and Lhuntse that people were being coerced to become members with meandering consequences if refused.

The APP spokesperson told Observer that in Haa, Punakha and Wangdue Phodrang, a party had coerced many eligible voters to become members. “Most of the eligible voters in villages have already registered with one party and now many fear that there might be personal implications if they support or register with any other party” and added that it was not right as per the draft constitution.

The Election Commission had issued a notification on 19 March this year which stated that political parties can start “preparatory works” such as “registration of members, appointment of its office bearers, collection of registration and membership fees and voluntary contributions from its registered members...” The APP spokesperson said that distributing membership forms in advance meant people’s vote would be pre-decided even before the elections defeating the essence of a successful democracy.

In retrospect, the spokesperson suggested that parties could go around registering voters and declare the election results based on the numbers registered without holding the actual elections.

The party was of the notion that membership forms should be distributed only to fulltime party members and not to ordinary voters and common people. Finally, they submitted that the Election Commission should conduct awareness programmes on the distribution of forms and membership registration as soon as possible. If it was not done “then most of the common people will be misguided by the political parties…”

In response, the Chief Election Commissioner Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said that there were no evidences to prove the accusations made against the party. “Without proper facts and evidence, we can’t keep on hounding people and the ECB can’t take action,” he said.

Bumthang Tang Gup Tashi Dorji said that PDP workers were earlier distributing the registration forms and people were made to fill the forms. “We were told that PDP workers were distributing registration forms to the people,” said the Chumey Mangmi Kesang. A resident of Punakha told Observer that the gup in his village was commanding the people to vote for PDP in a village zomdue.

Asked why the APP had approached the ECB, the spokesperson said, “we want to give the voters the liberty to choose their own leaders without getting forced,” and added that they had approached the ECB following feedbacks from the general public.

Meanwhile, three civil servants who had not completed their training or study bond period with the civil service but wanted to resign to join politics also submitted a letter of appeal to the Election Commission yesterday.

NATIONAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS DRAWING CLOSER (tentatively to be held on 16 October 2007)

With two rounds of the mock election expected to have prepared the nation for the National Assembly elections in 2008, the Election Commission is now set to educate the voters about the elections for the National Council .

This time, it will not be mock elections but the Election Commission will be conducting trainings for officials from the dzongkhags that include Dzongrabs, Dungpas, Dzongkhag Electoral Officers, tshodungs (DT secretary), Gewog Administrative officers, Human Resource Officers from different agencies. These people will then go back to the Dzongkhag and orient the voters, said Election Commissioner Deki Pema.

The training for the dzongkhag officials will begin from the first week of July and these officials are expected to cover throughout the country by the end of August, Deki Pema said.

For bigger dzongkhags, Deki Pema said that the dzongkhag officials will train another select group of people at the dzongkhags who would help them to train voters. “The idea is to cover maximum number of voters,” she said.

The National Council will comprise 25 members and 20 will be elected from each of the 20 dzongkhags while five will be appointed by His Majesty.

CANDIDATES SHOULD START GEARING UP NOW!!!

THE QUARTET JOINS APP (bhutantimes)

June 24, 2007 - Thimphu: The four ministers whose names have already been linked with the All People’s Party (APP) have finally given their consent to join the party with a formal declaration expected sometime next week after the conclusion of the 87th Assembly session.

The declaration is expected to be made by the trade and industry minister, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, who has acted as the main conduit between the APP ranks and the ministers so far.

While Prime Minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk had, to quote a source, “always been very supportive”, the home minister, Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley, spoke of his decision to actively participate in the country’s democratic process only this Friday.

Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley would face the tough Kabji-Talo constituency where the agriculture minister, Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, will be contesting as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate. THIS LOOKS LIKE THE BATTLE OF THE ELECTION. WHO WILL WIN???

The labor and human resources minister, Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering, reportedly made up his mind on being approached by a group of voters from upper Thimphu. The minister is expected to contest as an APP candidate from this constituency while Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba will run from lower Thimphu.

Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk contests from the upper Paro constituency.

Guys, I have the list of consitutencies for the 2008 elections, copied and pasted from the election commission website below. As the mainstream media failed to update us on who is contesting from which constituency, i thought of posting it here so that people can fill in the potential candidates from the constituencies they know about. I will aslo maintain a record on my computer on the postings and when we have enough candidates from the forum, I propose conducting an online election, ofcourse with the permission of the webmaster. So please list the candidates you know are going to contest from specific constituencies and lets see where this leads us.

Chhoekhor-Tang
Chumey-Ura
Phuentsholing
Bongo-Chapcha
Drujeygang-Tseza
Lhamoy Zingkha-Trashiding
Goenkhatoe-Laya
Goenkhamey-Lunana
Bji-Katsho-Uesu
Sombaykha
Gangzur-Minjay
Menbi-Tshenkhar
Monggar
Dremitse-Ngatshang
Kengkhar-Weringla
Lamgong-Wangchang
1. Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk
2. Gyem Dhendup (?)
Doga-Shaba
Nganglam
Khar-Yurung
Nanong-Shumar
Lingmukha-Teowang
Kabji-Talo
Deothang-Gomdar
1. Mingboo Dukpa
2. Tashi dorji
Jomotshangkha-Martshala
Pagli-Samtse
Sipsu
Dorokha-Tading
Ugentse-Yoeseltse
Shompangkha
Gelephu
North Thim Throm-Kawang-Lingshi-Naro-Soe
1. Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering
South Thim Throm-Chang-Dagala-Genye-Mewang
1. Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba
2. Lyonpo Sangay Ngedrup
Radhi-Sakteng
1. dorji Pawo
2. Lyonpo Thinley Jamtsho?

Bartsham-Shongphu
Thrimshing
Kanglung-Samkhar-Uzorong
Wamrong
Bumdeling-Jamkhar
Khamdang-Ramjar
Nubi-Tangsibji
Drakteng-Langthel
Pataley-Tsirangtoe
Kikhorthang-Mendrelgang
Nyisho-Sephu
Athang - Thedtsho
Bardo-Trong
Panbang

Lhagelo, are u interested to join politics? From which constituency u would prefer? People of ur calibre should join politics n serve the Nation.

Lungta - 29 June 2007 06:34 PM

Lhagelo, are u interested to join politics? From which constituency u would prefer? People of ur calibre should join politics n serve the Nation.

Lungta, Thank you very much for your vote of confidence and yes I did think about joining the strongest party against the PDP but the RCSC circular basically put an end to my hopes. You see, I still have another year to go before I can officially resign because of the bond period for my masters degree. So, for the moment, as much as I want to, I can only sit and watch and hope that we elect the right leaders to lead us forward. One of the reasons that I am interested in knowing about the candidates from the different constituencies is to actually see the potential candidates before 2008 and to conduct an online survey on which party and candidates the Bhutanese Online Community supports. If the mainstream media does this job for us, we would be better informed, unfortunately, i doubt that they would do any indepth study. Further, i am doing short profiles on the candidates I know of and am trying to make a website also.......to inform our fellow citizens.... unfortunately, I will be out of Thimphu for two weeks as I have to go to Samdrupjonkhar, hopefully the trip would help me guage the approval ratings of the people on the candidates who came forward.

Cheers

BREAKING NEWS: ELECTION DATES ANNOUNCED (KOL)

2 July, 2007 - The National Council election will be held in December 2007, the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) announced this morning, July 2.

The primary round of the National Assembly elections will be held in February 2008 and general elections in March 2008. The announcements were made following a Royal Decree from His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo on June 30.

ECB has also declared the registration of political parties open from July 1.

All parties fulfilling the criteria prescribed under the chapter eight of the election bill can now submit their application for registration to the Registrar of Political parties at the ECB, according to election commission officials.

Meanwhile the ECB will conduct trainings to brief the members of the political parties to the various electoral rules and regulations.

The ECB will also conduct nation-wide seminars to educate the voters on the National Council elections in July and August 2007.

ECB also launched a handbook today for candidates contesting the elections to Parliament and Local Government. The handbook contains all details that will prepare them to play a positive role in the Parliamentary and Local Government elections.

the fact that some of the campaigners are threatening the poor villager saying that they know exactly where the villagers are voting is a problem......i seriously think that ECB and BBS should make it clear the defination of SECRET BALLOT, SANGWAI TSHOGEAN........people should vote their own mind....

with the election announcment on monday we are expecting many arties and pople to join. i am very much happy that there are many ministers and many civil servants. i hope they will join fast because we are always talking of joining but not doing and so it is becoming difficult for people to decide what to support and which candidates to support. i also hope that intellectuals like karma ura and kinley dorji of kuensel will join.

APP LODGES WRITTEN COMPLAINT (kuensel)

4 July, 2007 - The All People’s Party (APP) has made a formal complaint to the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) on how other political parties were forcing people in rural Bhutan to register and become party members.

“It is a national issue and we decided to submit a written complaint before the formal party registration began,” said the APP spokesperson. “If this trend continues there would be no need for a voting process,” said the spokesperson. “The election results could be declared depending on the number of people registered with the party.”
In the complaint letter submitted to the ECB on June 28 the APP has said that eligible voters in the villages who had already registered with a party view the registration forms as some sort of a binding agreement.

“They fear that there might be personal implications if they support or register with any other parties,” he said. “The public is not getting the right message and ECB should do something about it.”

The party spokesperson also said that it had been almost a month since a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) member was caught red handed for making people fill party forms in Lhuentse on mock election day but the ECB had done nothing about it.

A PDP spokesperson who spoke to Kuensel said that since the parties had not formally registered, most of the things done so far by the party were unofficial. “A lot of things related to these forms were done in an unofficial manner and we don’t have any comments on it,” the spokesperson said.

The ECB in response to the APP’s complaint said that it had no authority to act because the parties had not formally registered. According to ECB, the parties do not exist until the official registration.

The APP spokesperson said that they submitted the letter because they wanted ECB to initiate an awareness programme informing the public that they do not have to register with a party and they could elect people of their choice.

REGISTER YOUR PARTY (kunsel)

4 July, 2007 - Political parties intending to contest the 2008 election can now formally register with the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB). The registration of political parties was declared open on July 1.

According to election commission officials, all parties fulfilling the criteria prescribed under the chapter eight of the election bill can submit their application for registration to the Registrar of Political parties at the ECB.
To register, a political party should submit the party name (full and the abbreviated name), the party symbol, charter of the party in Dzongkha and English and details such as name, designation and addresses of the office bearers of the party.

Besides the location and mailing addresses of party head office, dzongkhag and regional offices the party must also give the names and addresses of its registered members.

As of July yesterday no political party had applied to register.

The All People’s Party (APP) is not sure when the party will register, according to the party spokesperson. “Before registering, we want to finalise the members as well as the leader and confirm if any of the serving ministers are joining the party,” said the APP spokesperson.

The Bhutan People’s United Party (BPUP) spokesperson told Kuensel that the party would register any time this month. “We know that it is advisable for the party to register at the earliest but there are some things that need to be taken care of and we can only confirm the date for application of registration two days from now,” said the party spokesperson.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on the other hand will register as soon as the party General Secretary arrives in Thimphu. “The party is ready to formally register and we are waiting for the general secretary to do it,” said one of the party members.

According to election commission officials a sub-committee, chaired by an election commissioner and heads of departments and divisions in the ECB, has been established to scrutinise the applications. The sub-committee must submit its recommendation to the election commission within five days of the receipt of the application for registration. The ECB will review and make its decision within three days after it has been submitted by the sub-committee.

The registry of political parties will be open for public viewing at the office of the registrar and on the ECB website (http://www.election-bhutan.org.bt).

Meanwhile, the ECB will conduct trainings to brief the members of the political parties on the various electoral rules and regulations next month.

The ECB will also conduct nationwide seminars this month and the next to educate voters on the National Council election.

CHIMIS: WHERE NEXT? (bhutan times)

July 1, 2007 - Thimphu: The 87th session of the National Assembly isn’t the end of it all for the present crop of chimis. As they leave the capital for their villages, they are looking forward to a new beginning.

Most chimis have already identified themselves as party workers with the various parties that have come up over time.

The Sarpang chimi, T. P. Homagai, has joined the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as a party worker.  He said that he has understood the policies of the country and his contribution would go a long way in shaping the future of democracy in Bhutan.

“Whatever work I plan to do I would keep those policies in my mind so that our country and the people are benefited,” he said.

“I will be working as a party worker for All People’s Party,” said the Trongsa chimi, Sangay Rigzin. He has been working as a chimi for the past six years. He said that he has gained experiences in the decision making process and not to make use of it would be futile.

The Dagana chimi, Dorji, has been identified as the dzongkhag coordinator and dzongkhag chairman for PDP.  “Having served the government for so long, I plan to continue actively participating in this new era of governance.”

His Majesty’s request for all the educated and experienced people to come forward to join politics has altered the decisions of a few chimis.

“Earlier I had no intentions of joining politics,” said Trashiyangtse chimi, Lobzang Tshering. “However, after His Majesty requested those who have served the National Assembly to participate in this new form of government and continue to serve our country, I changed my mind.”

Although he is not sure which party to join he intends to take an active part in politics.

Since the inception of the National Assembly in 1953, chimis have been playing a vital role in the decision making process.

But there are chimis who are lost and undecided.

The Bumthang chimi said that he is undecided as to which party to join. He intends to be a spectator for a while and see how politics fares in Bhutan.

Bumthang chimi Jambay, who will also be working as a party worker for PDP, feels he will be helping PDP in order to make a better government than now for a democratic country.

The Lhuntse chimi, Deki Pelzom, told BT that since she does not have the educational qualification to stand for the elections next year she would like to stay back in her village and take care of her family.

However, if PDP wants her to work as a party worker, she wishes to continue. “I am already a party worker for PDP, I joined PDP to make people in my village aware of what democracy is all about,” she said.

A similar sentiment is being shared by the Paro chimi but he wants to amend plans to start a local government.

“I will not be able to participate in this new political procedure mainly due to my old age,” said Pendey Dorji, the Chapcha Chimi. “But I still plan on actively participating in helping those who are going to be involved within my district.”

Most of the chimis BT spoke to feel that they have given their best as the representatives of the people by bringing out people’s problems before the National Assembly.

“As chimis we have put forward people’s problems and discussed on how to solve it, giving everyone equal opportunity,” said Ngawang Jamyang Dorji, the Mongar chimi.

As of now, PDP has 74 chimis working as party workers. While there is a feeling among the masses that the educated lot are supporting APP the rural people are for PDP.

Cheers!!!!

aspiring parliament members a formal university degree qualification or even the assurances of a large voter base may not be enough. Equally important is a strong command of the national language, Dzongkha.

A strong command of Dzongkha is not a ‘compulsory criteria’ to become an MP but not fulfilling it may mean playing the role of bench warmer MPs in the new parliament of 2008.
At least that is what aspiring MPs feel and some have already begun to improve their skills in the national language. “I started talking to my wife in formal Dzongkha,” said a candidate for People’s Democratic Party (PDP). “I even got myself a Dzongkha dictionary.”

There are others who are reading newspapers published in Dzongkha, newsletters, and pamphlets, almost anything that is written in Dzongkha.

The pressure is more for the new parliamentarians because expectations are high. By being the first batch of elected, qualified, and well educated MPs, discussions and deliberations in the Assembly are expected to be intense and qualitative.

But a weak command over the national language could pose a big hurdle to direction and decision of crucial debates that could become policy. “They are a group of bureaucrats who were trained and conditioned to think and speak in English,” said an analyst. “Which means the first few years we may not get to see intense debates in the Assembly.”

“We should look for substance, ideas, content in the deliberations not the delivery,” said an aspiring MP. “As long as the message is conveyed the task is done. We can do away with the cliches, jargons, and get to the point.”

But most aspiring candidates Kuensel spoke to agree that the national language should be given the utmost importance. “There might be terms that we may be forced to use in English, we should not let the language barrier dilute the importance of the Assembly,” said a MP candidate.