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Constitution: Final draft version of the Constitution of Bhutan

4 August 2007

The third and final draft version of the Constitution of Bhutan, which will be posted online, (www.judiciary.gov.bt) has major changes to Articles pertaining to elections, political parties, parliament and public campaign financing.

Article 23 on Elections has been bifurcated to "give emphasis on election principles in one Article and to define the roles and responsibilities of the election commission under a different Article," said the chairman of the Constitution drafting Committee, chief justice, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye.

A section added to Article 10, pertaining to Parliament, gives the parliament the authority to remove the immunity of a parliament member. The new section states that "the concurrence of not less than two-thirds of the total number of members of each house respectively is required to remove the right of immunity of a member".

During the public consultations on the draft Constitution people pointed out that the immunity provided by section 21 protected parliament members from the law even if they had resorted to actions that needed to be inquired or questioned.

Four new sections have been added to Article 15 on Political Parties. Section 9 states that "no election shall be held where the remainder of the term of the National Assembly is less than one hundred and eighty days".

Section 11 has been changed and states that "where the ruling party in the National Assembly stands dissolved or the government is dismissed...the National Assembly shall also stand dissolved and, accordingly, sections 1 to 8 of this Article shall apply".

Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye explained that the National Assembly would stand dissolved if the ruling party gets dissolved. "If the opposition is dissolved the National Assembly would not dissolve because the ruling party is already ruling," he said. "A party could stand dissolved either through a majority of members resigning or by declaration from the Supreme Court."

Section 13 states that "during the election of the opposition party...the National Assembly shall be suspended animation and the ruing party and their candidates shall not contest in the elections".

Section 14 pertaining to election of opposition party states that an opposition party would be elected if the original opposition party stands dissolved under the Constitution. The new opposition would be elected from the parties registered with the Election Commission of Bhutan within 60 days from the date of the dissolution of the original opposition party. The election will be done under the electoral laws to fill the seats of those constituencies, which stood vacant on the dissolution of the original opposition party.

A new section incorporated in the Article 16, Public Campaign Financing, states that "the Election Commission shall fix a ceiling for contribution offered voluntarily by any of its registered members to a political party subject to the provisions of the Election Fund Act."

The changes made to the final draft were drawn from the direct and indirect comments made by the people during the public consultations (convention) on the draft Constitution held in the 20 dzongkhags from October 2005 to May 2006, said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye. About 500 comments were also received both from outside and within the country through various online forums and in writing.

The final draft will not be consulted with the public and only the parliament formed in 2008, which will adopt the Constitution, will have the authority to make changes. "The final draft will be posted online to let people know about the changes," said the chief justice.

Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye said that he was confident that the draft Constitution will be the life and soul, the guiding light of the Bhutanese people, and the vision of Bhutan. "This Constitution is a product of peace on a cultured tradition. It is a crucible of our wisdom and the tradition and culture that we have inherited and that we believe in," he said.

This article was contributed by Ugyen Penjore, Rinzin Wangchuk and Tashi Dorji, KUENSEL, Bhutan's national newspaper, 2007

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