The members of the National Council recommended the House to include the private sector along with the government and public sector when it comes to the eligibility to hold a Constitutional Office.
The Member of Parliament (MP) of Paro proposed the suggestion while deliberating on the Entitlement and Service Conditions Bill for the Holders, Members and Commission of Constitutional Offices of Bhutan today.
The Entitlement and Service Conditions Act for the Holders, Members and Commission of Constitutional Offices of Bhutan 2010 states that “No person shall hold a Constitutional office unless the person is; In the government or public service for a minimum of 20 years for the Members and Commissioners and 25 for the heads of Constitutional Offices.” The recommendation to include the private sector as well was proposed when the Good Governance Committee recommended the House to increase the years of service to 25 and 30 respectively.
“The Constitution neither reflects nor restricts the private sector so I feel there is an opportunity to include them. I would like to suggest how will it be if we include private sector along with the government and public sector. This is because there are many individuals in the private sector who are capable enough,” proposed Ugyen Tshering, the Paro MP.
“As per the Article 31 of the Constitution, no person shall hold a constitutional office or post under this constitution unless the person is; a. a natural-born citizen of Bhutan and b. not married to a person who is not a citizen of Bhutan. It does not restrict a person working in the private sector,” added Sonam Pelzom, the Monggar MP.
However, the Zhemgang MP raised the concerns of including individuals from private services to hold a constitutional office.
“A person to hold a constitutional office should not be aligned with politics. We know that government and 
public servants have to be apolitical. However, we do not know if private services indulge in politics or not. Therefore, to nominate an individual from the private sector would be difficult,” said Pema Dakpa, the Zhemgang MP.
Meanwhile, some of the members disagreed with the committee’s recommendations to increase the year of services to hold a constitutional office. According to the committee, the number of years was increased because when the number of years is less, a person has to resign before reaching 65 years of age after serving for five years in constitutional offices. This, they say, leads to the underutilization of an individual.
However, some members recommended the House to increase the years just for the heads of Constitutional Offices.
The recommendations were submitted back to the committee to rework for the final decision. The committee also recommended nine new sections to which all the members agreed.
Samten Dolkar/Kinley Dem
