The term for the governance system in Bhutan is called the Democratic Constitutional Monarchy. In this system of governance, Druk Gyalpo (His Majesty, The King) is the Head of the State and Prime Minister, is the Head of the Government. Since Bhutan practices Parliamentary Democratic System, the Government is divided into Three Branches (organs):
1. Legislature (ཁྲིམས་བཟོ་ལྷན་སྡེ།)
2. Executive་ (འཛིན་སྐྱོང་ལྷན་སྡེ།, and
3. Judiciary་(དྲང་ཁྲིམས་ལྷན་སྡེ།)
1. Legislature (Parliament)
The word 'Parliament' has been derived from the French word 'Parler' which means "to talk or speak." Parliament is the legislature or the of a State. It has powers to make and amend laws, safeguard the interest of the country and the people, and scrutinise public policies and functions. In Bhutan, we practice the Parliamentary form of democracy.
Legislative branch of government consists of two Houses (Gyalyong Tshogdu= National Assembly) and (Gyalyong Tshogde= National Council).It consists of two houses- National Assembly (Gyalyong Tshogdu) and National Council (Gyalyong Tshogde). Altogether they are called Parliament. The elected members in the two houses are the members of the legislative body consisting of 72 (NC 25+ NA 47) Members of Parliament with the Druk Gyalpo.
Gyalyong Tshogdu (National Assembly ) | Gyalyong Tshogde (National Council) |
Members- 47 members (both Ruling and Opposition members) | Members-25 (each from Dzongkhag and 5 Eminent members) |
Tenure: 5 Years | Tenure: 5 years |
Speaker is elected from the members in the Ruling Party. | Chairperson is elected from the members and receive Dakyen from Druk Gyalpo. |
*Premature Dissolution of the government can take place in NA with the vote-of- no confidence by its members. |
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| Parliament of Bhutan |
The Powers and Function of Legislature:
1. Legislative powers (they have the power to make new laws, amend/change laws or repeal (cancel) the laws in the country)
2. Financial powers: controls the financial related matters in the country. Spending of the government budget, collection taxes and fees or other levies cannot be regulated without the approval of the parliament.
3.
Control over Executive (government): government will implement the laws and policies only after the legislative body recommends.
4.
Judicial functions: legislature have power to dispense the cases separately without involving the judiciary through Alternative Dispute Resolution Centres (Nangkha Nangdrik). They can impeach (charge/punish) the Constitutional office holders if they come in conflict with the law of the country.
5.
Amending power: they have the power to amend or repeal the laws in the country as well as the some constitution of the country according to the need and situation.
6.
Passing of bills: they have the responsibility to pass the bills.
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| Parliament of Bhutan. Source: www.nab.gov.bt |
Source: www.nationalcouncil.bt
(Passing of the Bills)
Bills- a proposal for legislation (a draft law).
Types:
i. Private Bills
ii. Public Bills
iii. Money/Financial Bills
iv. Ordinary Bills
The bills will be passed from any two houses with a simple majority in the houses (i.e. more than 2/3rd of the total votes present in the house).
The bills are passed by the legislative body on the following conditions:
1. If the King does not grant assent to the Bill passed by both Houses, it will be returned with amendments and objections to deliberate and vote in joint sitting and, re-submit it to the King.
2. If the Bill passed by a house is objected for amended by the other house (NA or NC), the Bill will be sent back to where the bill originated within thirty days. And, in case, the amendment in the Bill is objected by the House where it has originated, they will have a joint sitting for more deliberation. Finally the bill be will be submitted to the King within fifteen days.
3. If the either of houses neither passes nor returned the bill within thirty days, it will be considered as passed.
Relation between the two Houses (National Assembly and National Council)
Similarities | Differences |
1. both houses are responsible for framing new laws or amending laws or repeal the laws. | 1. National Assembly have more power over Money/Financial Bills. |
2. both have equal power over the Ordinary Bills. | 2. Vote of no confidence against the government can be passed only in National Assembly. |
3. Bills passed will be submitted to Druk Gyalpo for his assent. | 3. National Council may amend or reject the bill passed by NA but if National Assembly does not agree to rejection of the bill, this will lead to joint sitting called by the Druk Gyalpo. |
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| Fig. Representation of Legislative Cycle in the Parliament in Bhutan. |
Political Parties
Group of people who have the same general ideas about government and who have joined together to gain control of the government so that they can put their ideas into practice.
Functions:
i. Political parties stand as a link between government and the people.
ii. Political parties provide alternatives to the people.
*all the political parties will participate in the Primary Election (simply called First Round of Election). The two parties which gets maximum votes will be participating in the General Election (Second/final election).
Ruling Party | Opposition Party |
The party which gets highest votes during the election will form the ruling party. Functions: i. The ruling party ensure that national interest and aspiration of the people are fulfilled through good governance. ii. The ruling party promote unity and progressive economic development and ensure wellbeing of the nation. | The party which accumulates second highest votes during the election will take over as opposition party. Function: i. Opposition ensure the government and ruling party functions according to the constitution and provide good governance to the people ii. Promote unity, national integrity and harmony among all sections of society iii. Promote and engage in constructive and responsible debate in the parliament. iv. Should not allow party interest over the national interest and ensure the government is responsible, accountable and transparent. v. Should help the government in times of natural calamities, external threats, national crisis, etc. |
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| Courtesy: google/wikipedia |
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