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Parties dying at grassroot level

10 July 2009

An election scene from Lhuentse

An election scene from Lhuentse

This week, the DPT dzongkhag office in Pemagatshel had to be moved to the home of Shumar-Nanong constituency coordinator in Yalang village. The party office desperately tried to remain open but ultimately gave in to the pressure of the house owner after it failed to pay house rent for the last six months. Key party workers have also not been paid for months.

PDP party office in the dzongkhag closed down soon after the election. Its office equipment are gathering dust in the home of one of its party workers. None of the party workers received any payment since election.

While DPT’s party membership in the dzongkhag has increased to 458 from 332 last year due to the unrelenting effort of the party workers, the financial contributions from the members have gone down drastically. None of the registered members in the dzongkhag has made any additional contribution other than the basic membership fees.

There seems to be no registered PDP party workers in the dzongkhag at the moment. None of its party co-ordinators has renewed his or her membership. Its dzongkhag coordinator, who had resigned from the party right after the elections, has no comments on it.

Kinzang Wangchuk, PDP gewog coordinator of Khar, admitted that the party members have not renewed their membership because they lacked directives from the party high command. “Most of our earlier members are with us and there could be new members but, in the absence of a proper office and directives from the party, we are lost,” he said.

“We have joined the party to serve it for at least five years but, at the moment, party activities at the grassroots have virtually ceased,” said Kinzang Yeshey, another PDP worker.

Party workers, however, deny that they are becoming insignificant. “We are very much alive and kicking,” said the DPT constituency coordinator for Nanong-Shumar constituency, Sangay Dendup. He added that people continued to register with the party office. However, DPT dzongkhag coordinator had also resigned from the party post.

Tenzin, the Dzongkhag Election Officer, said that, under the election law, political parties are required to maintain their offices in the dzongkhags.

“It is very important for political parties to have a functional party office in the dzongkhag for people to connect with their representatives. The present scenario arose from the financial situation of the two parties,” said an observer. He said that, given the present scenario, there would be fewer choices for the people in the future.

Another observer commented that, while election rules had been framed to curb unethical practices in the political process, at times, he had the feeling of the rules being too restrictive. “Considering that there is little room left for the parties to raise funds and not many members have the means to contribute individually, it looks like there is the need for the government to provide some sort of financial support to the political parties if we are to ensure that democracy not only works but becomes vibrant,” he said.

But on the other hand, he has a word of caution that it should not be at the cost of developmental activities. According to him, should the present political parties receive any financial support from the government, similar support should also be extended to any future broad-based political parties.

An official, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “Political process does not end after the people elect their representatives. There should be a continuous interaction between the elected leaders and voters. Political parties on a shaky financial situation could resort to corrupt practices which could undermine the very foundation of our nascent democracy. Something needs to be done.”

By Gyembo Namgyal

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