Settled around the semicircle sitting arrangement, members of the Parliament braced themselves for the almost four-hour long, state of the nation report.
The galleries were packed with dignitaries from international organisations, senior civil servants and other members of the public.
Standing up front at the Parliament hall, right below the elevated platform on which was stationed the speaker’s seat, Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley stood at the podium, gently laying the almost 125-page report on it.
It was the culmination of compiling piles of report that he was lobbed with to work on between sessions of the ongoing National Assembly.
Following a gentle hem, Lyonchhoen began reading out the report that in the four-hour span encapsulated, as he reminded the parliamentarians, the nation’s and not just of the government’s, achievements, plans, challenges and concerns.
In his natural modesty, Lyonchhoen said he was unable to include all that transpired over the one-year period because of space and time constraints.
“Despite many challenges the government and the country faced, the report has never been about apology for failures and shortfalls,” he said. “It’s about strides we’ve taken forward as communities and as a family in pursuit of happiness.”
The beginning beamed with expressions of hopes, opportunities and convictions that left many an eye of the parliamentarians glittering.
“Ours is a land,” he paused, the creases on his forehead growing more prominent as he scanned the far end of the hall, “of peace and stability, where freedom, security and hope are not the stuff of dreams but an everyday luxury.”
Bhutanese, he said, were blessed with exceptional talent, confidence and grace, a youthful nation where the youth were imaginative, ambitious, bold and vocal complemented with attributes of being caring, spiritual and passionate.
“Indeed, we have as a polity, the making of a great democracy,” he said. “We have reasons to be proud to belong to this country.”
Speaking of democracy, the purpose of which, he said, was creation and sustenance of good governance.
Politically, he defined good governance as transparent and accountable functioning of elected representatives in carrying out their responsibilities, mindful of the electorate that entrusted them the office they held.
Economically, he said it was about prudent management of national resources and culturally, it was about preserving and enriching national heritage, both tangible and intangible, while strengthening the integrity and resilience of the Bhutanese social fabric.
The entire report was presented under the four pillars of GNH.
He occasionally lifted his right forearm to pop out his thumb, in the midst of his presenting the achievements in health, education, roads, electricity, mobile phone connectivity and employment sectors.
There were some major strides the government made in each of the sectors and the members of the Parliament, who otherwise were thought to have been enervated from the marathon presentation, seemed gripped by an articulate speaker.
Issues that ran contrary to GNH, the prime minister elucidated.
He said from wishing and striving to own a car just because a neighbour did, the case today was about owning one bigger and more fancy than the other, in doing which, vehicle population grew far higher than those of the neighbouring nations.
There, he said, was a misplaced priority, where instead of investing on land and homes that could be handed down to the progeny, many were interested in commercial goods.
In relation to that, he expressed satisfaction at the growing bicycle culture among, mostly Thimphu residents, but one that had to grow from mere fitness activity to using it as a mode of transportation.
Moving away from such serious subjects, Lyonchhoen often touched on something lighter such as Bhutanese film and music industry.
“There’s nothing a Bhutanese can’t do if we put our minds into something,” he said, referring to the fledgling film and music industry that was growing by the year.
Lyonchhoen said he was particularly pleased that the days of Bhutanese music borrowing tunes of the neighbouring nations was finally coming to a cease.
He then switched to a more serious matter such as the gap between the rich and the poor when talking about equity, which he said was a matter of great concern for the government.
In conclusion, the prime minister returned to his point on good governance that he began with and relentlessly hammered home one concern he always reiterated.
“State funding is crucial to keep the Bhutanese democracy clean and true to the people,” he said, adding that both existing parties had substantial loans. “Let’s forget our case, consider that of political parties that will emerge in future.”
He cautioned again that without state funding for political parties, those in future would be subject to governance on the whims of a few wealthy people funding the parties.
Lyonchhoen also cited countries that had good Constitutional provisions, laws and constitutional bodies despite which their process towards democracy failed.
“It is because of lack of good political parties,” he said. “Parties that existed to serve ends and aspirations that were different from that of the people’s.”
Source: Kuenselonline
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