NC will not take up the issue after NA declined it recently

Thromde: The Paro thromde issue is now closed as the National Council (NC) will not take up the issue as the House cannot deliberate on it separately.

The council’s Deputy Chairperson Tshering Dorji said that the thromde boundary bill was a government bill and that it would be procedurally incorrect for the council to deliberate on it despite the request from the local government of Paro. “Since it is a government Bill, the NC cannot table it in the House,” he said.

The local government of Paro had written to the NC in August against the new thromde boundary demarcation, which includes most parts of Wangchang and Hoongrel gewogs in the Paro thromde. The local leaders argue that about 500 acres of paddy land have been affected by the declaration of the thromde by the last parliament session.

Council members will discuss the issues from constituencies in its plenary meeting today, but the Deputy Chairperson said there was no possibility of the issue being included in the agenda. “Only if the government tables the issue in the Parliament, we would be able to discuss,” he said.

Tshering Dorji said that since the issue is affecting the people, the House would have been happy to discuss if the parliamentary procedures allowed. “It would be procedurally incorrect to table the issue in the NC,” he said.

Another NC member said that he wanted to see the NC discuss the Paro thromde issue since the local government had written to the House as well. “Although the NC’s agenda for the winter session was more or less finalized the issue could be included as any other business,” he reasoned.

The National Assembly (NA) this month rejected the Paro local government’s petition stating that the thromde was endorsed by a majority decision of the parliament. The National Assembly Speaker Jigme Zangpo in an earlier interview said that the Parliament’s decision couldn’t be reversed since it is the supreme law-making body.

The thromde boundaries of Paro were passed with a majority of 60 out of 68 members during the joint sitting. The Speaker said that the works and human settlement ministry carried out enough research on the issue and that the decision was taken in the best interest of the nation and democracy.

MB Subba