Surviving on a shoestring budget

Source: kuenselonline.com

DPT and PDP differ on the state funding issue but share a bankruptcy problem

Political Parties 18 May, 2010 - Reeling under the pressure of defaulting bank loans and unable to raise fresh party funds, the country’s two political parties, the People’s Democratic Party and Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, are working on strategies to stay afloat.
PDP members and supporters recently met in Thimphu to re-register members, whose one-year membership had almost expired, for the new financial year. After discussing the party’s financial status, PDP managed to raise Nu 1.7M that day through members’ contributions, excluding membership fees. Most of the contributors were businessmen and industrialists.

“We were overwhelmed by the support and the funds that our members have committed,” said PDP vice president, Ritu Raj Chhetri, adding that about 30 candidates and more than 150 members were present at the meeting on May 9.

The election commission of Bhutan increased the individual contribution ceiling from Nu 100,000 to Nu 500,000 last year.

“The party is operating on minimal operational costs, to keep at least the Thimphu office running,” he said. Most PDP dzongkhag offices function from homes of their supporters and that too on a voluntary basis.

While PDP, after paying off a Nu 20M loan through the auction of former party president Sangay Ngedup’s land, has around Nu 3.5M in administrative debts. DPT has a total debt of about Nu 24M.

The election commission of Bhutan (ECB), on the other hand, has asked both parties to clear their dues by 2012, a year before the next general elections.

DPT general secretary, Thinley Gyamtsho, said that they are exploring all funding sources and working out a plan to address the serious cash flow problems to clear the dues and meet basic expenditures of the party.

There were proposals recently to ask the 45 DPT members of parliament to contribute Nu 0.2M each, which the general secretary, said would only cover about 37 percent of the total debt.

“An executive committee meeting would be held to discuss how the funds could be raised,” he said, adding that MPs and ministers were already contributing 10 percent of their salaries every month to keep the party offices running. MPs contribute Nu 3,600 each, while ministers contribute about Nu 7,800 each to the party fund.

Although PDP has cleared off Nu 20M through auction of the former president’s land, vice president Ritu Raj said that ECB wanted the party to pay back the amount. “This is because an individual can’t contribute more than Nu 500,000. But we’re yet to discuss the issue further,” he said.

Both parties feel that the only way to survive is by retaining and recruiting more members and supporters. But DPT’s membership fell from 12,000 in 2008 to about 3,800 in 2009, while the PDP has only about 400 registered members.

While DPT, led by prime minister Jigmi Y Thinley, has insisted that parties can only survive through state funding, Ritu Raj Chhetri said that PDP is very firm on its earlier stand that, if it’s unconstitutional, the party would not accept state funding. “The ground realities, however, prove that we do need money,” he said.

By Phuntsho Choden