“Constitution doesn’t imprison and shackle”

PM says tshogpa’s salary raise is justified

Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley yesterday reasoned why the recent salary raise for the tshogpas is not unconstitutional at the 18th Meet the Press.

The opposition leader last week contested that the raise is unconstitutional because the constitution empowers only the pay commission to revise the salary of public servants.

The prime minister said, “I find it absolutely unconstitutional on the part of people to talk about unconstitutionality of the good actions intended to advance the interest of society.”

He said the constitution doesn’t say every salary raise and wage increment should be done through the pay commission. But rather, it says that the prime minister may recommend, periodically, the establishment of a pay commission for structural revisions of salaries. “It doesn’t say that every decision should be made through the pay commission.”

Constitution, Lyonchhen said, was created to enable society to progress, democracy to flourish, and to enable the implementation, translation and the pursuit of the high principles and ideals that should guide the society.

He said the constitution is not a document that will serve as a manual for day-to-day conduct of the business of government and society.

Elucidating his point, he said that the constitution doesn’t prescribe how the political parties should be managed on a day-to-day basis and that the prime minister and the minister should wear scarves. And for that matter, there is also no mention in the constitution that there should be a monthly discourse between the media and the cabinet, he said. “Because it’s not mentioned in the constitution, is it unconstitutional?”

The prime minister said that if one is truly interested in furthering the interest of society, one should not cite the constitution and say ‘because it is not mentioned in the constitution, it is illegal’.

Had the tshogpa’s salary been higher, Bhutan would have got better tshogpas, Lyonchhen said, adding that those interested are not satisfying enough in terms of their capacity and quality. “Therefore, it would have been wrong in terms of the spirit of the constitution for the state to not to have acted,” he said.

Opposition Leader Tshering Tobgay had quoted the constitution which states that “the pay commission shall recommend to the government revisions in the structure of the salary, allowances, benefits, and other emoluments of the royal civil service, the judiciary, the members of parliament and local governments, the holders and the members of constitutional offices and all other public servants with due regard to the economy of the Kingdom and other provisions of this constitution.”

Finance Minister Wangdi Norbu said since there were no tshogpa candidates coming forward to contest the elections, the government discussed the issue seriously and decided to raise their salary, which is subject to approval by the parliament.

Lyonchhen said not getting good people elected into the local government means the possibility of endangering democracy, undermining the importance of the quality of governance at the grassroots level, and the possibility that wrong decision will be taken and resources will be wasted.

He argued that when there is no specific limitation in the constitution, one should not go back to the constitution and cite it. “The constitution doesn’t block us, imprison us, and shackle us against good things and actions we need to take,” he said.

By Sonam Pelden

One Response to ““Constitution doesn’t imprison and shackle””

1. Constitution matters - Tshering Tobgay’s Blog says:

   November 28, 2011 at 3:10 pm

   [...] that the Pay Commission did not have to be involved to raise salaries.  It’s worth reading the entire article again. So I’m reproducing it here, along with my comments which I’ve inserted, in parenthesis [...]

   Reply