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Bhutan Legislature
The unicameral National Assembly--the
Tshogdu--comprises the
legislative branch of government. The National Assembly
has the
power to enact civil, criminal, and property laws; to
appoint and
remove ministers; to debate policy issues as a means of
providing
input to government decision making; and to control the
auditor
general, who has approval authority over government
expenditures
(see
fig. 17).
Since its establishment in 1953, the National Assembly
has
varied in size from 140 to 200 members. According to Rule
7 of the
Constitution of the National Assembly, the legislature
sets its
size every five years. The National Assembly has three
categories
of members: representatives of the people elected by
indirect vote
every three years and comprising between half and
two-thirds of the
National Assembly membership; monastic representatives,
also
appointed for three-year terms and constituting about
one-third of
the membership; and government officials nominated by the
Druk
Gyalpo. The first woman member of the National Assembly
was seated
in 1979.
In 1989 there were 150 members in the National
Assembly, 100 of
whom were representatives of the general public. Under
1981 rules,
qualified citizens over twenty-five years of age can be
nominated
at general public meetings by village heads and adult
representatives of each household (gung) and "joint
family."
Once nominations are certified by village heads and local
government officials, they are forwarded to the speaker of
the
National Assembly for "final declaration of the nominee as
a member
of the National Assembly." The other fifty members are
made up of
monastic representatives nominated by the Central Monastic
Body in
Thimphu (or Punakha in the winter) and eight district
monastic
bodies, members of the Council of Ministers (Lhengye
Shungtsong),
members of the Royal Advisory Council (Lodoi Tsokde),
secretaries
of various government departments, district heads, others
nominated
by the government, and a representative nominated by the
Bhutan
Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The National Assembly
meets at
least once and sometimes twice a year--in May and June and
again in
October and November; each session lasts about four weeks.
Emergency sessions can also be called by the Druk Gyalpo.
The National Assembly elects a speaker from among its
members
and is authorized to enact laws, advise the government on
constitutional and political matters, and hold debates on
important
issues. Executive-branch organizations are responsible to
the
National Assembly. Powers of the National Assembly include
directly
questioning government officials and forcing ministers to
resign if
there is a two-thirds no-confidence vote.
National Assembly votes are secret in principle, but in
practice decisions are almost always made by reaching a
public
consensus. The National Assembly, housed in the
Tashichhodzong,
provides a forum for presenting grievances and redressing
administrative problems. The Druk Gyalpo cannot formally
veto bills
that the National Assembly passes, but he can refer them
back for
reconsideration. Although criticism of the Druk Gyalpo was
not
permitted in the public media, it was allowed and took
place in
National Assembly debates in the 1980s.
Data as of September 1991
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