Two years on the hot seat
The Bhutanese government, properly called the first elected government of the kingdom, has completed its second year on the hot seat, without any significant progress at hand to boast for. The biggest achievement for it will be this month end when it holds the SAARC summit for the first time, ever since the regional body instituted some 25 years ago.
The years passed just with formulation of policies and laws, even though not in significant numbers which in other fronts have utterly not come into implementation. Of course, the progress made towards hydropower generation is a giant leap for overall economic development but the latest economic development policy does not adequately point for bright future for liberal economy.
The government failed to hear the grievances of those displaced by the planned dams for hydropower. In addition, Bhutan will get not a single unit of power from all these plants to be constructed under the Indian sponsorship and speculations are already underway if the country faces power shortage. The construction of dams, smuggling of timber across border, forests fires and progressing road networks have diminished the prospects of country maintaining at least 60 percent of its land under forest cover, as provisioned by the constitution.
Rules have become quite liberal but continue to be rhetoric over equality and justice for all, with regard to ethnicity or religious belief. The monarch remain as active as before, though having no executive power constitutionally, as in the case of devastating earthquake in eastern Bhutan. It was the king who overtook the responsibility of an executive government for distribution of relief support to earthquake victims in eastern districts in its attempt to win their hearts, for they were disheartened due to murder of Shabdrung incarnate early this decade.
Restriction on movement for local residents in southern districts has been withdrawn and authority for issuance of NOC from local officials has been centralized in Thimphu. Justice is yet to be delivered for democracy seekers of 1990, few of whom are still in jail. The ministers and the government officials are yet to adjust with new system — the old mentality of a closed society under absolute rule rules the minds and actions of the ministers and bureaucrats.
Media made good progress but government is at odd with it. It sees media of working against the government — only reporting the negative aspects. To be true, the media worldwide basically report the negative aspects. In this sense, the media is an opposition party and it has to be more accurate in Bhutan considering the insignificance presence of the opposition party in parliament.
The red-army resurrection seemed unlikely in near future, though it showed its presence just before the general elections. The allegations government makes of the communist coming from Nepal is perfectly tallied as the party’s presence diminishes with the progress of resettlement of Bhutanese refugees.
The Prime Minister Thinely, who arrived Kathmandu recently, reassured his Nepalese counterpart, who is reigning in unstable situation, about his solidarity for resuming talks between the two countries in resolving the refugee issue. The resumption is unlikely in near future. This time, Bhutan showing its interests in an attempt to calm the heat resettled refugees produced outside Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva demanding repatriation and human rights in the country.
In totality, the two years of honeymoon for Thinley must have achieved 15 percent of what it had promised people during electioneering. The promises will remain fiasco for another three years, finally culminating into another election whereby the people are likely to determine the fate of the party for its unfulfilled promises. That will give rise to alternative to current bi-party politics.