His Majesty The King graced the opening ceremony of the third session of the third parliament, this morning. The opening session was also graced by the other Royal Families.
Upon arrival at the Gyalyong Tshokhang courtyard, His Majesty was received in a traditional Chipdrel procession by the National Assembly Speaker, Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, National Council Chairperson and the Members of the Parliament.
The National Assembly Speaker, Wangchuk Namgyel on behalf of the parliamentarians, expressed gratitude to His Majesty for gracing the ceremony and for His Majesty’s unwavering and continuous support.
The third session of the National Assembly will deliberate on two new Tax Bills such as Goods and Services Tax and Property Tax 2020 and seven Amendment Tax Bills among other important Bills. The upcoming session will also approve few conventions and agreements that require immediate attention and will discuss gender equality, decent work and economic growth and climate action of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The session will also discuss on Operations and Management of Farm Shops, and to include Small Development Projects and Common Minimum Infrastructure budgets directly with the gewog budgets. The Public Accounts Committee will also present the Royal Audit Authority Report 2018 during the Joint Sitting.
Meanwhile, the opening ceremony of the 24th National Council was also held in the afternoon today.
During the session, the House will deliberate on the follow-up reports on the resolutions of the 23rd Session of the National Council on issues related to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), reducing harmful use of alcohol, fronting issues, recommendations on Annual Anti-Corruption Commission Report 2018, and issues concerning government’s decision to remove cut-off point. The house will also deliberate on eight money bills, policy and legislative issues among others.
Both Houses will conclude their sessions in the first week of March.
Kinley Dem/Pema Tshewang/Samten Dolkar/Pema Seldon Tshering
