A positive step towards transparency
Monthly Meet The Press 25 March, 2010 – In what is a positive development towards making the government functioning transparent, the prime minister Lyonchhoen Jigme Y Thinley and his cabinet will meet the press every month to answer queries from journalists.
The first question and answer session with the press, which lasted more than two hours, was conducted yesterday with journalists from both print and broadcast media asking a variety of questions on the activities of the government.
The monthly event, which will be called as “Meet the press”, is to foster transparency in the government functioning, according to the press secretary, Tenzin Rigden, from the prime minister’s office. “The programme will provide a platform, where journalists can ask any questions that are of public interest, and the people of Bhutan will be informed of the activities of the government and be able to assess its performance and form independent opinions, based on accurate and reliable information,” said Tenzin Rigden, who initiated the programme on the request of media.
The press will put cabinet ministers in the hot seat on the last Thursday of every month for an hour.
Media houses welcomed the initiative and said that it would be a win-win situation for both the press and the government. “The elected government is answerable to the people who elected them. Democracy is best when it is open,” said a journalist.
However, journalists working in the dzongkhags said that, while the cabinet ministers are making themselves available to the media, the promise of a free flow of information is still a problem in the dzongkhag. “Most decision makers in the dzongkhags won’t talk to the media without a green signal from their bosses in Thimphu,” said a reporter based in Tsirang.
Yesterday, Lyonpos Yeshey Zimba, Khandu Wangchuk, Ugyen Tshering, Thakur Singh Powdyel and Dorji Wangdi attended the session.
Source: kuenselonline