12 March, 2010 - Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley has sent a strong message to the dzongdags – let party workers participate in development process or the government would resign together with the party workers.
Those, who know him as a no-nonsense person, will believe him. The message from the DPT government is of desperation in fulfilling a responsibility that they declared as sacred. One of the most important promises his government made was to lay the foundation for a strong democratic culture and polity and leave it for future governments to follow or build upon. Every now and then the prime minister says that, for democracy to take strong roots, people will have to work together with the government they elected. As the country’s first democratically elected leader, this responsibility to lead has been rested on his shoulders.
We sense that Lyonchhoen is finding it difficult to give shape to the fledging democracy without his people taking part in the process. He wants his people to take part in local governance because he believes that “without the party people, there would be no political parties and no government, certainly no democracy.”
Like the prime minister said, the responsibility for ensuring the success should not be left to the political parties or to the prime minister alone. Bhutan’s democracy is not even two years old and each individual should understand his or her role better in achieving this cause. Being apolitical doesn’t mean not taking responsibility. Sometimes we fail to understand the meaning of being apolitical. The misunderstanding stems from not having a strong democratic culture.
There are clear distinctions between being apolitical and political. A civil servant can help villagers understand democracy but not by inclining to a party. He can do this not by saying which party is better but rather that parties are good.
The debate will go on because these are issues left to interpretation in the early days of a new system. In the meantime, two years have passed and, before we know it, we will be heading for the polls again. It is, therefore, imperative to contribute to the process. Democracy cannot be built in five years. But efforts can start immediately.
At the same time, we need a check system in place at the local governance. The probability is, without a check in place, there could be a political structure that will run parallel to the bureaucracy. Party members probably could form a more vibrant structure than the civil service at the local government level and could outpower bureaucracy.
