Also says implementation of CDG through the involvement of MPs is encroachment on the Executive, contravening the Principles of Separation of Power enshrined in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan
The leader of the opposition, Dasho Pema Chewang, says that having failed in several areas—from preparing the comprehensive 13th Five Year Plan (FYP), to effective strategies and plans for addressing Non-Performing Loans (NPL), and developing plans for effective use of the Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP)—the performance of the government so far on policy and governance can at best be rated at 10 percent.
Further, when asked what the Opposition would do if it had the power and the mandate to change one thing from the 13th FYP document, Dasho Pema Chewang said it would be the criteria for resource allocation for Gewog, Thromdey, and Dzongkhag. “It would be reformulated with proper factorization and weightage to enable fair allocation of funds to facilitate balanced regional development,” the OL added.
Meanwhile, the OL said the actual implementation of the 13th plan started only in July 2024. Thus, to assess the implementation progress of planned activities within a month “would be too early and premature.” “The government, nonetheless, had ample time to consult, develop, review, and refine the 13th FYP in a comprehensive manner with fair allocation of resources,” Dasho Pema Chewang said. He also added that unfortunately, when the plan and budget were presented to the parliament, plans and programs were not well defined both at the central and local government levels, and the budgets were also not fairly distributed.
The OL underlined that besides NPL and loan moratorium, main issues to be resolved with priority were not given due attention by the government. “Therefore, no significant interventions and outputs were visible in the field. Revival of the economy using the Economic Stimulus Program is another matter which was supposed to be taken up with priority. By this time, the government should have identified sectors where returns on investment could be faster to revive the economy with efficiency,” he added.
On equity in terms of pledges made by the government and the opposition, Dasho Pema Chewang said that as the pledges of the ruling government and opposition are derived by assessing the national and local issues, almost 80% of the pledges are similar. “Some of the salient common pledges are enhancement of life insurance, support for newborn children. social protection for vulnerable societies, support for chain link fencing, improvement of farm and gewog roads, enhancement of tourism, development of an additional airport in the east and south, improvement of national and secondary highways, commercialization of agriculture, enhanced facilitation of trade, establishment of integrated food processing and storage units, enhancement in ease of doing business, strengthening of Gewog service centers, etc.,” he underlined.
Dasho informed that the pledges of the opposition were collected by the government and the ministries and other relevant agencies were directed to incorporate pledges in the 13th FYP. “With the implementation of the 13th FYP, we expect and aspire for the government to undertake the pledges of both the ruling and opposition in equal measures to result in holistic and regionally balanced development,” he said.
When asked if the Opposition has any ‘yardstick’ for holding the government accountable, the OL said that based on the broad sectors of the 13th FYP, there are important yardsticks to assess the government’s performance in each sector. For Economic Development, the target is the attainment of a GDP goal of USD 5 billion (B) by 2029; enhancement of export and reduction of trade deficit; addressing NPL and enhancement of access to loans and other financial services; and effective investment of ESP and the revival of the economy.
For Social Progress, the government is mandated to enhance employment opportunities in the private and corporate sectors; enhance intake capacity of students at tertiary institutes including students of arts and humanities; enhance health service delivery with reduction of turnaround time; and assurance of social protection for vulnerable groups.
For Security, it is assurance of peace and stability of the government and State; timely mitigation of disasters and natural calamities; and preservation of culture and tradition.
Concerning Governance, there is a need to do comprehensive annual planning and fair allocation of budget both at central and local government levels; adherence to decentralization policy and acts in allocating budget and implementation of plans and programs; addressing attrition of public servants through good remedial measures; enhancing access to inclusive, effective, and accessible justice; and assurance of transparent rule of law and public oversight functions.
When asked about the 13th FYP, especially if all the activities are achievable and within the reach of this government, the OL said the general principles and strategies appear good and acceptable. “However, the programs and projects at the central level, and broad activities at the local government level, are not well defined. Similarly, budgets are also not well allocated. The obscured plans and budget allocations, centralization of funds and decision-making, and the inadequacy of human resources across central agencies and local governments could impede the implementation of the 13th FYP,” he said. The OL said it is, therefore, crucial to address human resource shortages by instituting agile recruitment procedures, proper incentivization, and an amicable working culture. “In addition, outsourcing of services to the private and corporate sectors could also be explored in concurrence with RCSC’s goal of a small and compact civil service,” he added.
The leader of opposition said that assuming the funds are mobilized in time, human resource shortages are addressed with priority, and decision-making and implementation responsibilities are decentralized, the objectives and targets of the 13th FYP could largely be attained.
On the Constituency Development Grant (CDG) and the impact of the Nu 30 million (M) annual grant, the OL said the CDG, if provided in addition to the annual block grant, could supplement well in expediting development in remote and far-off places which are often overlooked. “However, since the CDG fund is going to come from the overall capital plan outlay of Nu 245B, it does not make any sense as far as the outcome and bringing about significant changes are concerned,” he added.
Additionally, the OL said many in the opposition party also opine that the implementation of CDG through the involvement of MPs would amount to encroaching on the executive function and accordingly contravene the principles of separation of power enshrined in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
By Tashi Namgyal, Thimphu
