Opposition Should Maintain Strict Vigil on the PDP's Governance.

Among the cabinet, not even a single member had served at secretary level in their pass jobs forget about ministerial level. The notion that the fresh leaders would bring fresh thinking as some media has put in appears to be bit overstated. If what has transpired from the First session of the Second Parliament is anything to indicate, we have reason to worry. PDP government put on a poor show on every front. For governance, there’s no room for trial and error.  

In particular, the mechanism devised by PDP for the revival of rupee situation through controversial 5B ‘Economic Stimulus Plan’ seems to be absurd. By the way, this title as some economists say is not appropriate in economic terms given the appreciated economic growth happening in the country. Likewise, as pointed out by prominent Opposition member, Wangdi Norbu, there’re many areas where government is weak at.

PDP doesn’t seem to mind playing with the egos at the cost of national interest. What I am talking about is the PDP’s move to amend NA Act. The ground for amendment, as proudly announced by PDP, is DPT’s president’s resignation. The cost of re-election has been indicated as grievous concern. This one man’s resignation should not be construed as sufficient ground for amendment. Why honorable JYT resigned is anybody’s guess. Only history will be able to tell the truth. At best, it should have left as ‘exceptional case.’ In essence, it is highly unlikely that an elected MP would resign under ordinary circumstances. If the restriction is to be imposed, it’s only going to complicate the process and compromise the individual rights under a democratic setup.         

In terms of performance at the NA, MPs of ruling government are found to be way below the expectation. They conduct themselves to prove far from professional and intelligent members. Some members started to give discourse on what a pledge means at the parliament in a desperate attempt to avert embarrassments. It is apparent that most of the PDP’s 100 days pledges are bound to be left on paper. With such trend, the ‘change’ is inevitable. People just have to wait and see the events unfolded in due course of time.   

On the other hand, from the Opposition side, what we see is only few MPs making their efforts. Most of the prominent members are found keeping their mouth shut. Opposition being the most knowledgeable and experienced, there’s great scope for the government to learn from them which I believe will trickled down to benefit the people. Opposition is the only hope of the people to fight with the government on their behalf. I am sure DPT’s seasoned members have many wisdoms and critical issues that warrant discussions for the interest of the nation but this is not happening at the parliament.

To expect 100% perfection is bit of a too much to ask but what the general public would love to see is that PDP fulfill most of its pledges. The most governing factor that leads PDP win the election is its pledges. Therefore, if PDP keeps on making excuses with its pledges, the frustration of people will only going to grow. Now let’s not forget that in Bhutan we don’t have strike system to negotiate with the government to make it act in the way it deemed appropriate. In absence of such mechanism, at best, it’ll be good to rely on strong Opposition to take care of the people’s frustration and dissatisfaction with the government.

People cannot trust the government for obvious reasons not by design but by default. It should be the responsible of Opposition to keep strict vigil on the government and report the flaws, inform and update the nation through well strategized forums. DPT should start official blogging on the issues related to government activities, policies, actions etc. especially that warrants people’s attention and inputs preferably through social media such as facebook/blog or any other relevant social media. What has been opposed and discussed at the NA are limited in scope and are not enough to make the government listen and act. Such verbal opposition at the NA is also not readily accessible to many citizens. What we need is written account of any issues that DPT thinks is not ok with the government. Besides, it will not only serve as future reference but also help DPT in keeping touch with the people.

For the greater cause of good, DPT should earnestly keep watchful eyes on PDP's governance and start official blogging to keep the nation informed on state of the nation.