July 9: The National Assembly unanimously agreed to remove section 17 of the Draft Parliamentary Entitlement Act yesterday. This means members of parliament shall not be entitled to sitting fees while attending the sessions of parliament or while attending the committee meetings.

The Bji-Katsho representative Ugyen Tenzin said the sitting fees entitlement is ridiculous.

“This entitlement is ridiculous firstly, secondly the amount that I calculated for 72 thuemis in a day is almost amounting to Nu. 60,000. This time the session will be about two months and that amounts to over Nu. 3 million and it would really have an impact on our government,” said Ugyen Tenzin.

He said in the past, the members were paid sitting fees as they had to travel all the way from their constituencies.

The Goenkhatoe-Laya representative Damcho Dori said he is relieved that the members of the ruling party brought out this issue and decided to remove the clause on sitting fees.

“We are very relieved that members of the ruling party brought out this issue and they supported this issue otherwise you know since we have only two members in the opposition, if we had brought out this issue we know that if the ruling party is not for it this issue of sitting fee is either going to get increased or going to get through and there is no way that the two members in the opposition can stop,” said Damcho Dorji.

The Goenkhatoe-Laya representative said the move will send a message to civil servants who enjoy sitting fees for attending some meetings.

“However I think this is also a good example and message to everybody in the government service who get paid like us and at the same time they also get the sitting fee so I think they will follow suit and anybody who is getting regular pay will stop getting sitting fees and hope that will apply to all,” said Damcho Dorji.

Meanwhile, the house decided that the members of the parliament will be provided a monthly driver allowance along with vehicle maintenance allowance.

The decision followed a submission made by the Bji-Katsho representative Ugyen Tenzin. He said not all members of parliament know how to drive properly. He said some do not know how to drive at all. He said it is inconvenient and risky for them especially when they have to travel to their constituencies.

His submission was supported by most of the members except for the opposition leader who said the matter needs to be looked into properly before coming to a decision.

The Opposition Leader Tshering Tobgay said providing driver allowance to the members of the parliament will defeat the whole purpose of giving them a lump sum of Nu. 700,000 to procure a car for themselves and allow them to keep it after completing their term of office. He also said that there is a need to make clear whether the driver allowance is not included in the Nu. 700,000 they have received.

After prolonged discussion, the house decided to provide a monthly driver allowance to the parliamentarians.