Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay yesterday refused to receive the revised salary

Surprising parliamentarians and the people, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay yesterday refused to receive the revised salary, and announced that he would donate the additional Nu 50,000 from his revised monthly salary to charity.

While presenting the State of the Nation report to Parliament, lyonchhoen said many people have criticised the salary for members of parliament and cabinet ministers.

“I’ll not defend the increase or argue whether it’s too high or not,” lyonchhoen said. “However, on the prime minister’s (PM) salary, I also agree that it’s too high.”

“Our country can’t afford it and my conscience will not be able to accept it,” lyonchhoen said.

Lyonchhoen stated that he would be accepting the salary equivalent to that received by the cabinet ministers, and the additional monthly amount of Nu 50,000 would be donated to charity organisations at the end of his five-year term.

“There’s no motive, I’m just driven by the understanding that the PM’s salary was too high,” lyonchhoen told Kuensel.

Lyonchhoen said that, on one hand, the government was trying austerity and, on the other, the PM can’t be accepting such a big salary.

“Several members, both in the opposition and the ruling party, said that I have to take it, but I said I couldn’t accept this and, if the PM must get more, than give him Nu 1 more, just as a token, which wasn’t accepted as well,” lyonchhoen said.

He added that the first Parliament, in its sixth session, approved the pay scale and the present government, the day it took office, should have legally started accepting the higher salary, because it was already passed by the parliament.

“But we didn’t, because we felt responsible to drive the austerity measures, and we didn’t want to take the high package,” lyonchhoen said.

He said that the salary reduction was discussed earlier and submitted to Parliament.  However, the proposal had been already endorsed and approved by the first parliament.

“That is law. We can’t just change it and that’s why, we didn’t accept it and we didn’t change it,” he said. “We submitted it back to Parliament and I requested to revise the PM’s salary downward, but none of this was accepted.”

Lyonchhoen had however not identified the charities that he will donate his approximately Nu 2.7M at the end of his term.

Economics affairs minister Norbu Wangchuk said that the PM’s decision has been made in good faith, and it set the tone for others to follow.

“It’s a noble gesture and will set a role model for leaders,” he said.

Minister for information and communications, DN Dhungyel, said the PM was recommended a higher salary, but it was the wisdom of the PM to not accept the recommended pay scale.

Personally, the minister said he did not support this decision, because the cabinet ministers and the PM had two very different types of responsibilities.

Finance minister Namgay Dorji said that the pay scale for PM and the ministers was a resolution of the National Assembly, which could not be over-written.

“However the PM’s intentions are clear and we respect his decision,” lyonpo Namgay Dorji said.

While some cabinet ministers applauded the move, Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party tweeted, “An intentional raise of 131 percent disagreeing to the pay commission report and now a donation gimmick…wake up Bhutan and realise.”

It also tweeted that the pay commission’s report on pay raise for PM and cabinet ministers was lower than the government’s pay revision report.

Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party president Sonam Tobgay said, “There are large variations between the pay commission’s report vis-à-vis the government’s pay revision report.”

Meanwhile, Druk Nyamrup tshogpa’s interim president, (Dr) Tandin Dorji, said he appreciated the PM’s gesture.

Source: Kuenselonline