This could be the beginning of an era of powerful local leaders in the country. They say the bottom-up approach to development, which has replaced the top-down approach, has given them enough maneuvering space to truly represent people at the grassroots.
The upcoming local government elections could see an unprecedented number of contenders if candidates vying for LG posts continue to make their intent known, at this rate.
Gangzur Gewog in Lhuntse already has about 40 people intending to run for LG elections. Likewise, many in Trashi Yangtse have come forward.
Most of the 17 gewogs in Monggar already have at least four candidates vying for the post of gups and almost equal number for the post of tshogpas and mangmis.
The serving local leaders said decentralisation of power is attracting quite a number of candidates for LG elections.
|
|
|---|
“Earlier, our power was equivalent to that of a messenger. But now the power of a gup has become equivalent to that of a Dzongda,” said Monggar Gup, Rinzin.
Tsakaling Gup, Karma Sonam Wangchuk said they have enough power because the government has decentralized the authority to bring development to the local government since 2008 through the consultation of public.
“Earlier we couldn’t approach up,” said Tsamang Gup, Yeshi Thinley. He said the power came with democracy. After democracy came in, he said, they have been able to work well with ministries, corporations and other agencies.
They said another appeal is the maturing of political awareness at the grassroots that the decentralisation of power has brought forth.
“The plans for development were top-down. These days whatever the people desire has to be included in the plans. Even when the 11th Five Year Plan was being planned, people were consulted. It is benefitting us now since the 11th Five Year Plan is being implemented,” said Chali Gup, Tandin Tshewang.
The local leaders said if the local governments are to unleash its full potential, they should be given more financial authority.
“As for the financial authority, we have limited authority as described in the LG Act because we can’t go beyond our ceiling. So we cannot exactly say that we have that much power,” said Karma Sonam Wangchuk.
If the number of aspirants continues to grow, this period could go down in the history of Bhutan when powerful local leaders emerged.
