Report on the Status of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT)
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Report on the Status of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) Friday, May 16, 2014 Table of Contents BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 SUB-COMMITTEE ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 WORKING STRATEGY .............................................................................................................................................. 3 COMPARATIVE STUDY ............................................................................................................................................ 3 REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ...................................................................................................................... 3 CRITERIA ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 OBSERVATION AND FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................. 5 ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS BY THE PARTY ............................................................................................................. 7 ISSUES FROM THE AUDIT REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS AND OPERATIONS ................................................. 9 GENERAL OBSERVATION ...................................................................................................................................... 11 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 12 COURSE OF ACTION ............................................................................................................................................. 13 Annexure 1 ................................................................................................................................................................ 15 Details of Voluntary Contributions Received from 30/6/2013- 31/12/2013 .................................................... 16 Annexure2 ................................................................................................................................................................. 17 Registered Members of DNT as of 31st of March 2014 ................................................................................... 17 Annexure 3 ................................................................................................................................................................ 34 List of Office Bearers at the Party Head Office, Thimphu ............................................................................... 34 Dzongkhag/Demkhong Coordinators ............................................................................................................... 34 Status of Dzongkhag Party Offices .................................................................................................................. 36 Annexure A ............................................................................................................................................................... 38 PRESS RELEASE ........................................................................................................................................... 38 Annexure B ............................................................................................................................................................... 41 Appointment Order .......................................................................................................................................... 41 Annexure C ............................................................................................................................................................... 41 Working Strategy for the Review of the Status of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) as a Political Party ......... 41 Annexure D ............................................................................................................................................................... 48 Minutes............................................................................................................................................................. 48 1 REPORT ON THE STATUS OF DRUK NYAMRUP TSHOGPA (DNT) BACKGROUND 1. In accordance with Section 209 (c) of Election Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008 which provides for Political Parties in General Election to field Candidates from the Political Parties that do not qualify for the General Elections, seven Candidates of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) joined People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as Candidates for 2013 General Election. 2. The Election Commission approved this move by the members of DNT upon forfeiting their membership, as provided in the Electoral Laws. 3. However, since it involved senior office bearers including the President and the Vice President of DNT joining PDP, questions were raised in public domain, referring to such move as merger of the two Parties, and doubted the existence of DNT as separate Political Entity. 4. Therefore, the ECB, in addition to providing clarifications to the stakeholders, its position on the decision as legitimate, notified the public through ECB Press Release No. ECB/CEC-PR/2013/4215 dated 17th of June 2013 (Annexure A) that a review shall be conducted to reaffirm on the Status of DNT as a registered Political Party under the Electoral Laws. SUB‐COMMITTEE 5. Towards this end, the Election Commission, vide office order no. ECB (CEC-14)2014/1388 dated 4th of March 2014 (Annexure B) constituted a Sub-Committee to review the status of DNT as a registered Political Party in 2 keeping with the decision of the Election Commission notified vide above Press Release. 6. Based on the Appointment Order, the Sub-Committee convened its first meeting on 10th of March 2014 and discussed on the yardsticks for reviewing the status of DNT as a registered Political Party. 7. Subsequent meetings reviewed the findings and information sought from the Political Parties. 8. The Review involved obtaining data from the Party Offices, meeting at official levels as well as meeting with Executive Members/General Secretary. WORKING STRATEGY 9. Prior to beginning of review, the Sub-Committee as mandated in the appointment order prepared and submitted the working strategy presented as Annexure C which was immediately approved by the Commission. COMPARATIVE STUDY 10. The status of Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party (BKP) and Druk Chirwang Tshogpa (DCT) were also studied in order to compare the overall scenario and current activities carried out as registered Political Parties in the Post-Election Period. REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE 11. The Sub-Committee submitted its Report on the status of DNT to the Commission vide Note sheet No.ECB/PEF-8/2014/1848 dated 8th of May 3 2014. The Commission convened a meeting on 12th of May 2014 to discuss on the findings and observations (Annexure D). CRITERIA 12. The criteria used for the registration of the Political Party were applied as basis for the review of the current status of the DNT, BKP and DCT, while Financial and Membership Status of both Ruling (PDP) and Opposition (DPT) Parties were reviewed to gain an overall comparative perspective. 13. The following features or documents of the Parties were considered and examined. 1) Financial Statements for the period, 30th of June/Date of Last Audit - 31st of December 2013 The financial statements of the Political Parties were studied to see the financial status or progress for the period, 30th of June/Date of last Audit - 31st of December 2013 including the following: Amounts received by, or on behalf of the Party (Income); Amounts paid by, or on behalf of the Party (Expenditure); and Assets and liabilities accrued, by or on behalf of the Party (Balance Sheet). 2) Membership The list of members registered with the Party were reviewed to see if reasonable number of members were mobilized to sustain the Political Party as well as whether the members registered with the Party were 4 broad-based with cross- national membership as required under the Electoral Laws. 3) Membership and Registration Fees The rates of Membership and Registration fees fixed by the Party was examined. 4) Audit Report on the Financial Statements of the Political Parties by the RAA for the Financial Year 2012-13 The Audit Report on the Financial Statements of the Political Parties were studied to see if the Parties have maintained their books of accounts in accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). 5) Office bearers at Party Head office & Dzongkhag and Status of Party Offices in the Dzongkhag The Office bearers at the Party Head Office and at the Dzongkhag level and the status of the Dzongkhag Party Offices were studied to see the operations and functions of the Parties. 6) Party Activities or Events Any other activities or events undertaken by Political Parties were also reviewed and highlighted in the Review Report. OBSERVATION AND FINDINGS Income 14. DNT managed to generate a reasonable income with their income being slightly more than the total expenditure incurred as of 31st of December 5 2013.While BKP and DCT couldn’t generate any income from the date of last audit till the 31st of December 2013, DNT managed to mobilize total