Gups, elected gewog heads, from 199 gewogs are in Thimphu

Gups, elected gewog heads, from 199 gewogs are in Thimphu to discuss and resolve various local government issues, but mainly to understand where they stand in the new political structure.

An upshot of democracy, the gewog leaders said, is that their workload has increased, respect from the people has diminished and they are struggling to understand and draw a line between politics and local governance.

This year’s annual conference of the gups, which began yesterday, is the second such meeting, since the introduction of parliamentary democracy, and the first after the recent reinstitution of the local governance department under the home ministry.

“We’re all trying to understand our place in the new system, not just the gups, but also the mangmis, party coordinators, tshogpas and parliamentarians,” said Sarpang’s Chuzargang gup, Sangay Tshering, adding that a gup’s responsibility has doubled post 2008. “We’re looking after the enormous Plan works, holding meetings and dealing with people, who now seem more vocal and powerful,” he said.

About six of the 205 gups are not attending the five-day annual conference, because of various reasons, officials of the local governance department said.

Some gups told Kuensel that their roles in the gewogs have remained the same, while many said it was changing.

For instance, some gups said that most of the party coordinators and tshogpas were former local leaders themselves and therefore they shared a close relationship.

“Our mandates are clear that we aren’t supposed to get into politics. But some of us are going to contest in the local government elections, and we expect the same people, who voted for the government, to vote for us,” one of the gups said.

Many gups, however, felt that they were no longer the only figure of authority and trust in the gewogs with the advent of parliamentary democracy. “The respect we used to receive isn’t the same anymore,” said Samtse gup Dorji Wangdi.

Similarly, other gups said that some people preferred discussing their problems with party tshogpas, coordinators or directly with members of parliament, in the belief that the government would respond faster to them than the gups.

Describing the role of a gup as “crucial”, home minister Lyonpo Minjur Dorji said that the gups have a lot of work to do to ensure that the desired actions take place in the gewogs.

“There’s no drastic change in their roles and responsibilities, but they have so much work to execute,” Lyonpo Minjur Dorji said. “Their main role is to implement activities on the directives of the government and support democracy, instead of sidelining it. Any political inclination shouldn’t affect their work. We hope to discuss these issues and educate them in the next five days.”

Another gup from Drujeygang gewog in Dagana, Sherub Dorji, said that the government’s success would also be judged from the work completed at the local level and many gups faced greater work pressure. “I’m very worried because, in my gewog, I’ve been able to complete only 5 percent of the Plan work and we’re running out of time,” he said.

Chuzargang gup Sangay Tshering said that, besides executing the Plan work, they had another important responsibility – ensuring that gewog tshogdus are functional and active for democracy to flourish. “We need more guidance to ensure that people understood democracy, because we’re in direct contact with the people,” he said.

Source: Kuenselonline