Is President of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Tshering Tobgay, still an Opposition Leader (OL) in the Bhutanese parliament?
No, he isn’t.
The reasons for ‘no’ are very clear as Tobgay was recently sworn-in as the country’s 14th Prime Minister by the K5. Additionally, any parliament has just one OL, and the National Assembly (NA) in Bhutan has Dr. Pema Gyamtsho as Opposition Leader representing former Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley’s party, Druk Phensum Tshogpa (DPT).
The second democratic election in Bhutan has gravely attracted attention of the global communities towards the “dramatic” downfall of Jigmi Y Thinley’s power in the Bhutanese politics. The so-called “democratic” election, that took place by restraining thousands of Nepali-speaking citizens from voting, as they were never granted voters’ identity cards, enabled Tobgay to lead Bhutan for next five years.
However, his personal blog, tsheringtobgay.com, still defines him as the country’s Opposition Leader.
His profile in the blog reads, “Tshering Tobgay is a Member of Parliament representing Sombaykha constituency in Haa. He is the Leader of the Opposition Party in the National Assembly of Bhutan.”
Don’t we regard him as OL when the country’s Prime Minister’s blog says so? Thus, Tobgay is still an Opposition Leader.
Certainly, Tobgay as Prime Minister cum Opposition Leader has hectic schedules. He doesn’t have time to update his blog, which was one of the most vibrant and regularly updated blogs until March 27 in Bhutan.
Still, this is not true. He is spending ample of time in the social media. His Facebook page and Twitter have always remained alive, and interesting he is responding to every Facebook comment, and twitter post. Not, only this, Tobgay has been running another Facebook page, Facebook.com/PMBhutan, right after he was sworn-in as the country’s PM.
Now, the question is how long will Tobgay occupy the virtual position of ‘Opposition Leader’?
Let’s hope, the Harvardian Prime Minister would find sometime to disable his personal page or amend his political position as the OL.
