Now that the polls are done and dusted, this is the current hot topic of discussion PDP: From who is joining which party to which party would make it through the primaries and the general round of elections to why India lifted the subsidies, speculations have been at the centre of the election process in the country for the last three months. Since the “people have spoken,” and the winning party’s president Tshering Tobgay has given his first statement, what’s being speculated on and discussed lately is who will form the cabinet. But many had already started asking and discussing, after the primary round, who the ministers will be, should PDP form the government. Now that the “saddled horse” has galloped through the general round of elections, several names have come up in the party office, as well as among supporters, on who would or should the ministers be, even though the president has said that the party’s executive committee has to first meet and discuss the nominations, including that of the prime minister. While it’s expected and already accepted that the party president would be the new prime minister, the president might also take up the responsibility of handling one of the ministries, most probably the foreign ministry, given the way foreign policy got politicised and became one of the president’s main talking points in his campaign. Also, the PDP manifesto pledged that, should it form the government, the party would not increase the number of government ministries. “The prime minister will also assume the portfolio of at least one ministry to ensure that there is no need to have too many ministers,” the manifesto states. “We’ll ensure that the prime minister’s office is not bloated and the prime minister and cabinet ministers will have minimum security.” But there are also talks about the prime minister-elect taking up the labour ministry, the ministry where he last served as director before joining politics. He had also hinted, during the presidential debate, that the prime minister could look after the labour ministry, while debating on DPT’s pledge to appoint a deputy labour minister. Should that happen, then the word doing the rounds is that the former representative from Goenkhatoe-Laya constituency, Gasa, Damchoe Dorji, might be nominated as the foreign minister. But then that is perhaps not likely to happen since, according to sources, it wouldn’t be right to place someone, who has violated the immigration laws of a country abroad, as the foreign minister. If not that, then he is likely to be given the home ministry portfolio, but what is almost confirmed is that he is one of the ministerial candidates. Another candidate, who is also likely to hold a ministerial portfolio, most probably the communications ministry, is Lekey Dorji from Bardo-Trong constituency. He was a Fulbright Fellow (USA) and comes with an engineering background. He is among the seven candidates, who left Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa to join PDP in the general round. The other candidate who is also sure to be appointed as a minister is Dorji Choden, the first woman engineer in Bhutan, and former president of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa. She is likely to become the works and human settlement minister and, should that happen, she will be the country’s first woman minister. During his campaign, the PDP president had committed to appoint at least five ministers from the east, and at least one from Samtse. If he keeps his words, the other ministerial position would go to Lhuenste’s Menbi-Tshenkhar candidate Yeshi Dorji, as promised to the people by the president in Lhuentse. He is likely to become the agriculture minister, given that he last served as a senior planning officer in the agriculture ministry before joining PDP in 2008. Other candidates from the east whose names have cropped up for ministerial positions are Norbu Wangchuk from Kanglung-Samkhar- Udzorong constituency in Trashigang; Jigme Zangpo from Mongar, and a former Nyamrup candidate; and Mingbo Drukpa from Deothang-Gomdar, Samdrupjongkhar. If they are to be ministers, based on the talk in the party and speculation, Norbu Wangchuk is likely to become the finance or education minister, while Jigme Zangpo might take up the health ministry. However, there are also talks about Jigmi Zangpo being appointed as the National Assembly speaker but, given the strong opposition that parliament would have this time and the important decisions that the house would be making, PDP will want to place one of its own strong candidates there, and not appoint a candidate who joined them midway from another party. If not him, then the other candidate for the speaker’s post is Mingbo Dukpa, whose name has also come up as the education minister, given his experience in the education sector. From the south, one of the ministerial candidates could be Rinzin Dorje from Sompangkha, Sarpang, who last served as Haa dzongda. He is originally from Shingkhar in Zhemgang but resettled in Jigmeling, Sarpang and therefore not really from the south per se. While he may be able to take up any ministerial post, he could likely be the home minister, if Damcho Dorji doesn’t get that ministry. Since the president promised that there would be at least one if not two ministers from Samtse, and to maintain the regional balance in the cabinet, the candidate for the minister’s post is likely to be Ritu Raj Chhetri, from Sipsu constituency. He is also one of the senior PDP candidates but should he not make it, given his health problems, the other ministerial candidate could be Yogesh Tamang, from Tsirang, given the work he has done for the party voluntarily as the party’s general secretary. He is also one of the candidates that the party president is “quite close with.” But then again, another new candidate, who has also left a big impression on the party and the people is Tek Bahadur Subba from Dorokha-Tading in Samtse. Whether any of these names will be recommended to head the economic affairs ministry shall be known after the party holds its executive meeting, soon after the petition period ends. Going by the winning candidates’ portfolios, PDP has several people with agriculture, legal and management backgrounds, but seems to lack candidates with a finance background. While these are based on speculations, another speculation that is also talked about a candidate becoming a minister is that he or she should have a landslide victory and a clean record.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 08:37:55 +0000