Bhutan House to redefine Ministers’ role

THIMPU, July 25: Bhutan’s national assembly will constitute a committee in the current session to draft papers defining the role of cabinet ministers in the new system of governance after the dilution of the power of monarchy by the king Jigmye Singye Wangchuk.

The committee would present the draft to the 77th session of the national assembly due next year, the head of the Government of Bhutan Jigme Thinley said today. Thinley, who was appointed as the chairman of the cabinet after the king gave up the post, said, apart from defining the role of the ministers, the committee will decide the duration of the chairmanship. In the changed system, the chairman of the cabinet would be made by rotation.

When asked about the king’s role in the new set-up, he said: “the king is sill the head of the state. He has the powers to take decision on matters relating to national security .” Thinley said the committee has to evolve a mechanism on how and when a vote of confidence could be moved against the king.