BBS will not be allowed to broadcast live the third session of the National Assembly. It will only be allowed to carry live broadcast of the opening, the concluding ceremony, His Majesty’s address, the Prime Minister’s report and other selected deliberations. The decision was not unanimous. It was, however, supported by the majority of the National Assembly members.

Speaking to BBS the National Assembly Speaker Jigme Tshultim said they are not allowing live coverage because of the cost entailed for the BBS and the government.He said since the parliament is a law making body, every year new laws are made and the old ones repealed. He said the laws are not discussed in detail in the National Assembly hall as it is done in the committees.

“When we approve section wise we only mention section 10, 11, 12 etc. So people don’t know what is in the section. So we thought because of that its a waste of manpower from BBS and resources on the part of the government,” said the Speaker.

The opposition leader Tshering Tobgay said stopping live broadcast is not good for democracy. He said live broadcast will enhance transparency and accountability. He said the constitution makes it very clear that proceedings of the parliament will be conducted in public.

“It is effective and therefore the MPs don’t want it. If it wasn’t effective or if the people were not watching the live broadcast, nobody would care and the members of parliament wouldn’t care whether you are there broadcasting live or not,” said the opposition leader.

“I believe that live coverage is constitutional, is a matter of the constitution and i believe that the BBS and the people of Bhutan should demand for that right,” he said.

Meanwhile the Chairman of the Good Governance Committee of the National Council Sonam Kinga said the decision to discontinue the live coverage of the entire session of the National Assembly is a cause for concern. This he said is because BBS as a media narrowed the gap between the parliament and people.

“As we embark on parliamentary democracy one of the best thing that happened was for people to be able to participate in the democratic process by way of not just being an ideal observer but important critic of their elected representatives,” said Sonam Kinga.

“In this age of democracy, it is essential that we take parliament as close to the people as possible. Now the discontinuing of the live programme may not be looked very favourably upon by the people also because many people feel that this may go against the idea of transparency and accountability which is a really important element of parliamentary democracy,” he said.

The Chairperson of the National Council said they will be deciding on Wednesday whether or not they will allow live coverage on BBS TV.

BBS also went around the capital town speaking to a cross section of the society to get their views. Everybody said the assembly session should be broadcast live in its entirety. They said the live broadcast of the past sessions has helped people across the country understand national issues, policies, and nuances of politics better.

They said as a fledgling democracy, it is important for the people to understand what the government and the elected leaders are doing. Some said the live broadcast will ensure that the government and the elected leaders are transparent and accountable to the electorate.

“Even simple farmers in remote villages understand the developments and issues better because of the live broadcast. If they don’t allow live broadcast, I think it is not ok,” said a farmer.

“The live broadcast has helped us understand what our leaders are doing, how and what they are discussing for the country and for the wellbeing of the poor not only in Thimphu but across the country, if they don’t allow live broadcast, we will not know and they can do whatever they want,” he said.

“Once the discussions have concluded and decisions have been made, of what use are press releases,” questiones a shopkeeper.

The third session of the National Assembly is due to begin this Friday. The past two sessions were broadcast live both on BBS TV and radio.

While the National Assembly sessions were broadcast live, the discussions in the national council were prerecorded and broadcast the very same day in the afternoon.

The BBS, as a public service broadcaster, is willing and ever ready to broadcast live the whole session of the third session as in the past, if we are allowed to.

Source: BBS