This is to inform tha t the chief justce of Bhutan has been discreetly involved in politiking and supporting a political party. which is unethical and breach of trust and confidence in our judiciary system.  As the chief justice, he should safeguard, uphold and administer justice fairly and not breach His Majesty’s trust put put on him as the chief justice of Bhutan.  He has been seen to be instigating people particularly in the east and even selecting candidates for the party. As chief justice, he must remain apolitical and not involve in politics. Further, as the chairman of the drafting committee of the constitution and upholder of justice in Bhutan, it is unprincipled of him to involve in such an imoral act. If he is interested in politics, he should resign and join politics and not politik with the influence of the chief justice.

As Bhutan is embarking on the path of democracy for the first time, and if this maiden vendure is to have a successful start, misuse of position and authority and trust by the innocent people should be nipped in the bud. Involvement of the chief justice behind closed doors is serious and deserves greater attention of the nation. The chief justice’s involvement in politics is indeed alarming and a threat to very foundation of democracy in Bhutan. As a concerned citizen, I feel this discreet politiking by the chief justice is damaging and relevent authorities should look into the matter.

Comments of readers on this welcome.

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Lungta - 30 June 2007 12:05 PM

If he is doing for the Pemagatshel: Yes, he has every right to say who has to stand from the constituency ultimately that guy will make a difference to his people and his home. If he is suggesting candidate for a different district, No! he should not do that. When it comes to his constituency, he is a common citizen first then a CJ.

Lungta, I disagree with you about the Chief Justice being a citizen first and a chief justice later. This is the time in Bhutan where the role of the chief justice is of the utmost importance and I would expect nothing more from the man. He is a man of principles and learning ( as far as I know him) and politicking at the grass roots level by a man of his stature is neither expected nor desirable. He does not have the responsibility of selecting the candidates from Pemagatshel or anywhere in Bhutan as long as he is the Chief Justice. He is the Chief Justice of Bhutan first and his responsibilities to Pemagatshel should be secondary.

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As Sonam Tobgay, he has the right to vote, but he does not have the right nor is he morally responsible to predetermine who is the ideal candidate from Pemagatshel. The identification of candidates is the responsibility of the political parties and once they have the candidates nominated for the different constituencies, he has every right as a citizen of Bhutan to cast his votes. The mistake that we are making is in assuming that the people identified by our current leaders are the best candidates, often a lot of value judgment would have gone into their choice of the ideal candidate which may not be in sync with the common man. My only concern here is that as the Chief Justiice, he should not, unless he has been approached in his official capacity as the chief justice, go about telling who the potential candidate should be because he is the custodian of the constitution.

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I agree with Yangchen Wangmo and Lhagello that Chief Justice of Bhutan should not be involved in politics. If he wants to, he can always participate in politics after resigning and if he can show a formal college degree, he can even stand for elections. I find this hitler-like character a real dirty politician and the King of Bhutan should not place so much trust on him. He does not have balanced judgement and he has always known to involve in nepotism and now we learn that he is discreetly participating in politics behind closed doors. I also heard from several chimis of Pema Gatshel and others in the east that he is asking them to support a certain party.

Can we trust this guy to be the chief of the judiciary? Can we trust him with imterim government during the elections when he is favouring a certain party? Would not that be dirty politics? The highest authority in the land should investigate this and if found true, he should be immediately thrown out.

as part time and junior moderator i am called to gather the ruins after the battle and assign the points/prizes to both sides of the issue.

this topic has been in cold storage for some time

obvious result is most agree with yangchen for saying chief justice and politics cannot mix

few issues to clarify - can chief justice vote? must check election act. cheif election commissioner you are hereby commanded to send a copy to apwangdrugay with the requried pages highlighted, okay?

is he citizen first or chief justice first? hmmmmmm. he is chicken or egg? i think he can care about his family and vikllage house but he cannot speak in public about his feelings about candidates

but in small society it is ver y difficutlt to have personal opinion, it is always public because everyone will know

if he open supports some party then problem of course but this will not happen otherwise he as hardy will meet election commission as laurel

final judgement of apwangdrugay is chief justice has more reasons for praise for his achievements and few bad points like all people. his only fault in perfect man apwangdrugay’s world is he is not good looking

......there is passion, there is sense of mistrust amongst the own......there is the fear of losing........but the most of all, there is a whole new picture of DESTINY....Welcome to the world of politics.....People join politice because, It either has to be the LOVE for the PEOPLE or the WAR for POWER

CERTAINLY, Everything is fair in LOVE and WAR.......History has proved that Politics is no LOVE, therfore it has to be WAR.

so, IN WAR, be prepared for all the Un-imaginable, un-realistic, un-ethical, im-proper, in-humanly etc...etc....etc....kind of behaviors.

Politics is the game of the smart people, and the rest will complain and try to dis-orient the system and try to create dis-harmon.

I am only waiting to see when will the people actually start to make comments on eachother, as to who is more CORRUPT!!!! man, I bet we will get to see that preety soon!!!

At the end Politics is hugely ENTERTAINING!!!

so, I conclude whatever PDP does is also fair....whatever APP does is also fair....whatever BPUP does is also fair......whatever any of the Ministers does is also fair.......whatever common man does is also fair.....whatever CJ LST did or will do is also fair.....just like Amazon has only two seasons, Rainy and Very Rainy.......similarly, in politics there are only two things fair and very fair......

By the way, in policics fair is synonyms to corruption, cheat, thuggery.....U name it!!!!

Chief justice of Bhutan siding with a political party?  A bad news for democracy in Bhutan

Can anyone imagine Chief Justice of Bhutan siding with a political party? This is really bad news for this country and its fledgling democracy. Judiciary is supposed to be separate and independant and if he involves in politics, we can deduce the following:

1.  The constitution is not adopted so he need not be the head of interim government (as provided by the constitution) because he has proven that he can not be an unbiased referee.

2. His Majesty may have to remove him from the high post as he has proven to be not trustworthy of the high post entrusted to him by the Monarch.

3. He may resign and become the party president and call the shots as to who will hold what portfolios if his chosen wins.

I hear that a few independant group of individuals may appeal to ECB, may be even the Monarch himself to investigate this so that democracy is not held hostage by CJ who is the chairman of the drafting committee of the constitution of Bhutan.

Are you not concerned? How could democracy work in Bhutan if the CHIEF JUSTICE openly takes SIDES with political parties? If you are not in CJ’s chosen party, could you sleep at nights?

Before we pass judgement, let use our brains and think logically and ask some thought provoking questions. Why should CJ promote a ceratin party when he has made it clear that he was not interested in politics. Why should any party listen to him to which candidate they should field in the elections. How could he possibly campgain or influencle people without the ECB comming to know of it. How come nobody has formally complained. Why is the person who has accused him not stating openely which party he is supporting. At the end of the day I can only conclude that this person is falsely accusing him as he has some axe to grind with CJ. probably he lost some case or something so let us not be fools and first ask some intellegent questions

I have a feeling Chief Justice is seriously involved in politics and engaged in siding one party...from the way things are shaping up in his constituency and p/gatshel.

this is cheating, harmful and very dangerous for our democracy, people and country.Seat and authority cannot be mis-used. please be fair with the people.

Newbie,
I am sorry but your feeling is wrong because the fact proves that CJ is not openely campgaining or supporting any political party. Maybe he may have expressed his veiws about any party to his family and friends but that is natural, however, i can confirm that he has not in his capacity as CJ campgained, instructed or supported in any way any party. It is all a bunch of lies and rumours that people want to start.

You wrote"I am sorry but your feeling is wrong because the fact proves that CJ is not openely campgaining or supporting any political party”

- i agree he is not openly campaining cos if he does that he would not be CJ now, in fact if he was doing it free and open, i would not mind...but what we dont like and bothers us a lot is - he is silently siding one party - rather vigourously...and this is a threat to His Majesty’s vision of democracy. As a CJ i thought he should be the first person to see that the election transpires “FAIR & JUST”.....and rem"NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE”