LG bill to pass on Friday
Date: Monday, September 07 @ 02:34:13 EDT
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Parliament extraordinary sitting 7 September, 2009 - The extraordinary sitting to pass the local government (amendment) bill will be convened on September 11, according to the speaker of the national assembly, Jigme Tshultrim.
Tshogpon Jigme Tshultrim said that the one-day extraordinary sitting of both houses, National Assembly and National Council, will start at 2:30 pm and conclude by 7:50 pm, during which time the members of parliament will vote on the LG bill. “The joint committees of the two houses have resolved all major differences and come to a consensus. Hence, there should not be any problem in passing the LG bill,” he told Kuensel.
His Majesty the King issued a royal kasho (decree) on August 28, commanding both houses to convene an “extraordinary sitting of Parliament” after the parliament could not pass two urgent bills, local government and civil service, during the third session in July. His Majesty had said that the failure to pass the LG bill not only delayed the election of local government officials but seriously hampered the efficient implementation of the 10th Plan. “Given that disputes on the bill are only on a few specific clauses, the joint committee of the two houses should seek to find a consensus, acceptable to their respective Houses, to enable the extraordinary sitting to vote on the bill,” His Majesty said.
The LG Bill could not pass after the joint session failed to secure two-thirds majority by a single vote. 44 parliamentarians voted to pass the bill, while 23 voted against its passing.
The most contentious issue revolved around thromdes, with some MPs arguing for a thromde tshogde in every dzongkhag in accordance with the Constitution and some MPs saying that it is not feasible because some dzongkhags did not have a town at all.
Since then, the joint committee of the two houses have proposed several changes to the bill, according to a member of the committee, MP Rinchen Dorji.
Instead of every dzongkhag having an elected thromde tshogde (municipality), the committee has proposed that dzongkhags with a significantly sized town have a class ‘A’ thromde.
Those dzongkhags, without a significantly sized town, will get class ‘B’ thromde status that can eventually be upgraded to class ‘A’ thromde on meeting all the requirements to become one.
All class ‘B’ thromdes and yenlag thromdes (satellite towns) will function under the dzongkhag tshogdu or gewog tshogde, as decided by the government. They will get to elect a direct representative to the dzongkhag tshogdu or the gewog tshogde.
The class ‘A’ thromdes like Thimphu, Phuentsholing, Paro, Gelephu, etc., will, however, not be directly under the dzongkhag administration and will enjoy a certain degree of autonomy. They can report directly to the government, instead of going through the dzongkhag tshogdu.
The parliament had “unconstitutionally” appealed to His Majesty to convene a special session to pass the two urgent bills, according to Constitution experts.
The former chairman of the Constitution drafting Committee, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay, earlier told Kuensel that extraordinary sittings are for emergencies, relating to the sovereignty, security, threat to the territorial integrity of Bhutan, a public emergency or calamity, and when the financial stability or credit of Bhutan is threatened.
“To submit to His Majesty for an extraordinary session without exigencies is unethical and wrongful, as it amounts to exerting pressure on the Throne and absolving of responsibilities by Parliament,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay.
By Rinzin Wangchuk
dz_editor@kuensel.com.bt
Retrieved from Kuensel Newspaper http://www.kuenselonline.com/ and the URL for this story is:
http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13369 on 8.09.2009
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