In Bhutan, where a right to information bill stalled earlier this year, the government is refusing to provide information about official travel expenses, writes a member of parliament, Sangay Khandu.
Khandu chronicles his efforts to obtain the information beginning in January.
He reports on the many excuses used:
The Government refused to share any information by stating that there was no need to as all expenses were legal. The Royal Audit Authority checked for illegal expenses. It also stated that complying with the question meant sharing information on travel expenses by the previous Government too (now in the opposition in the National Assembly) and therefore, the Government risked being seen as trying to attack them. It was also stated that the Annual Financial Statement (AFS) published by the Ministry of Finance contained the required information. Finally that it was not the job of the National Council (one of the two Houses of Parliament) to seek such information.
Khandu objects to the argument that information about legal expenses need not be shared and also addresses the other rationales.
“All these arguments not only seem wrong but they seem very defensive and challenge the idea of a Government (Executive) being accountable to Parliament (representing public) as enshrined in our Constitution,” he concluded.
Looking at the larger picture, he asked, “With such strong resistance to a basic question, I wonder how committed the Government is on bringing in a Right to Information Law in the country.”
In May, action on a proposed RTI bill was postponed. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
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