11 April, 2009 -“We are committed to promote true and irreversible democracy and we’re willing to sacrifice everything, including party interests, to establish a firm foundation for democracy,” said prime minister Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley during a meeting with the Bhutanese press this week, one year after democracy was introduced in the country by the fourth Druk Gyalpo. He said that it’s been a success.

The “Meet the Press” conference in Thimphu on April 9 was arranged by the government and included, beside the prime minister, the cabinet ministers.

Lyonchhoen said that democracy was taking roots and building a strong democratic culture was the number one goal of the government. “We’re mindful of the fact that we are the first democratically elected government and whatever we do is precedence setting.”

To promote democracy, he said that the government had ensured that the system of check and balance was functioning effectively. “We have a strong and powerful anti-corruption commission, supported directly by the government through the attorney general’s office, whose responsibility is to take people who have violated the laws to court,” he said. The prime minister also said that the auditor general’s report is given the highest importance.

“I’ve made it very clear that these mechanisms enjoy absolute independence and we keep our hands off these institutions that support democracy.”

Asked about the Supreme Court, Lyonchhoen said that the function of democracy has not been undermined by its absence. “The Supreme Court must be able to fulfill all functions but are we ready? Do we have the human capacity for both the supreme court and the high court?”

The prime minister said that people often told them that they had done nothing when, in fact, so much has already been done (see related stories). “But this is good because the lot that we’ve done is way down the high scale they’ve placed against us,” he said. “It’s an indication of good democracy that people have higher and greater expectations, which means that they have hope. And, in a country where people have hope, the government must be good.”

The second goal of the government was ensuring service delivery to the people and, he said, the government was on it. Lyonchhoen said that the government was held accountable by an extremely vocal parliament and a growing media corpus - which showed signs of transparency and democracy. “We are an absolute majority in the assembly and what you witnessed was free and frank views of the people that the parliamentarians represented, which were different from the views of the cabinet or the parliament.”

The prime minister said that the government respected the media. It had in no way hindered them. “The government lets media do what they’re supposed to be doing. People need to know the truth, both good and bad.”

It was important, Lyonchhoen said, that the government shared with the media as much information as possible. “We should be honest and we should reveal.”

“For democracy to grow, the media must grow, so that you stir the true feelings (of the citizens). You (media) have a very important role to play. In the five years, we want to support you in anyway possible. We would try our best … we will breathe life into every word in the Constitution.”