Cabinet of Bhutan
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The Council of Ministers (
Dzongkha Dzongkha (; ) is a Sino-Tibetan language that is the official and national language of Bhutan. It is written using the Tibetan script. The word means "the language of the fortress", from ' "fortress" and ' "language". , Dzongkha had 171,080 n ...
: ལྷན་རྒྱས་གཞུང་ཚོགས་; Wylie: ''lhan-rgyas gzhung-tshogs'') is the highest
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...
body in
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
. It was created in 1999 by
Jigme Singye Wangchuck Jigme Singye Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་སེང་གེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 11 November 1955) is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan (Druk Gyalpo) from 1972 until his abdicati ...
, the fourth King of Bhutan.


History of the Lhengye Zhungtshog

Until 1999, Bhutan's Cabinet consisted of a council of Ministers chaired by King
Jigme Singye Wangchuck Jigme Singye Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་སེང་གེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 11 November 1955) is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan (Druk Gyalpo) from 1972 until his abdicati ...
. In 1999, as a major step toward democratization, the King dissolved the existing cabinet and withdrew from his role in the decision-making in the cabinet. Six new ministers were nominated, placed before the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, and voted in as new ministers. The term ''Council of Cabinet Ministers'', or "CCM," was thus born. From this group of six ministers, a chairman was selected. The selection was based on the number of "yes" votes received during the National Assembly vote. The role of Chairman rotated among members, each minister enjoying the honour for a period of one year. On July 26, 1999, the National Assembly enacted the Lhengye Zhungtsho Act on advice of the King. This represents the first codification of the modern Lhengye Zhungtshog. Under the act, executive power is fully devolved to the new Lhengye Zhungtshog. Initially, the body lacked a Prime Minister, but was headed by a Chair; later, this position was eliminated in favor of the office of Prime Minister. The Lhengye Zhungtshog was also composed differently from in later years: it consisted of elected Ministers, members of the Royal Advisory Council and the Kalyon. Elected Ministers must have been natural born citizens of Bhutan, must not have been married to a foreign national, and must have already held senior government posts at the rank of Secretary to the Royal Government or above. Candidates were nominated by the King and elected indirectly through the National Assembly. Under the first incarnation of the Lhengye Zhungtshog, as under the "CCM," Ministers continued to enjoy five-year terms while the Chair rotated among them on a yearly basis.


Modern Lhengye Zhungtshog

Under Article 20 of the Constitution of Bhutan, executive power is vested in the Lhengye Zhungtshog, consisting of the Ministers headed by the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. The number of Ministers is determined by the number of Ministries required to provide efficient and good governance. Creation of an additional ministry or reduction of any ministry must be approved by Parliament. The Lhengye Zhungtshog must aid and advise the King in the exercise of His functions including international affairs, provided that the King may require the Lhengye Zhungtshog to reconsider such advice. The Prime Minister must keep the King informed from time to time about the affairs of the State, including international affairs, and must submit such information and files as called for by the King. The Lhengye Zhungtshog must assess the state of affairs arising from developments in the State and society and from events at home and abroad; define the goals of State action and determine the resources required to achieve them; plan and co-ordinate government policies and ensure their implementation; and represent the Kingdom at home and abroad. The Lhengye Zhungtshog are collectively responsible to the King and to
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. The Executive cannot issue any executive order, circular, rule or notification inconsistent with, modifying, varying or superseding the laws of Bhutan. Presently, the council has 10 members who are termed as ''Lyonpos'' and wear a ceremonial orange
scarf A scarf, plural ''scarves'', is a piece of fabric worn around the neck or head for warmth, sun protection, cleanliness, fashion, religious reasons, or used to show the support for a sports club or team. They can be made in a variety of diff ...
. The
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, who is the
head of the government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gr ...
, is directly elected by the people through two rounds of national elections every five years. Democratic elections were first held in 2008. The latest elections were held in 2018. The present prime minister of Bhutan is Lyonchen Dr. Lotay Tshering who will be serving for a term of five years.


(MoAF)

*Department of Agriculture *Department of Forests and Park Services *Department of Livestock *Department of Agricultural Marketing and Cooperatives *Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority *National Biodiversity Center * Rural Development Training Centre State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) affiliated to MoAF are: *Green Bhutan Corporation Limited *Farm Machinery Corporation Limited *Bhutan Livestock Development Corporation Limited :Previous Ministers:
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is responsible for: *Department of Trade *Department of Industry *Department of Intellectual Property *Department of Geology and Mines *Department of Hydro-Met Services *Department of Renewable Energy *Department of Hydropower & Power Systems *Department of Cottage & Small Industry *Office of Consumer Protection :Previous Ministers:
The Ministry of Education is responsible for: *Department of Adult and Higher Education *Department of School Education *Department of Youth, Culture and Sports :Previous Ministers:
The Ministry of Finance is responsible for: *Department of Aid and Debt Management *Department of National Budget *Department of National Properties *Department of Public Accounts *Department of Revenue and Customs *Department of Macro Economics :Previous ministers: :*Lyonpo Chogyal (May 1968 – 1988) :*Lyonpo Dorji Tshering (1988 – 1998) :*Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba (August 1998 – July 2003) :*Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu (July 2003 – July 2007) (April 2008 – May 2013)
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
is responsible for: *Department of Bilateral Affairs *Department of Multilateral Affairs *Department of Protocol :Previous Ministers:
The Ministry of Health is responsible for: *Department of Public Health *Department of Public Services *Department of Medical Supplies and Health Infrastructures *Department of Traditional Medicine *Directorate of Services :Previous Ministers:
The
Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs The Bhutanese Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs (Dzongkha: ནང་སྲིད་དང་སྲོལ་འཛིན་ལྷན་ཁག་; Wylie: ''nang-srid(-dang srol-'dzin) lhan-khag''; "Nangsi Lhenkhag") is the government ministry w ...
is responsible for: *Bureau of Law and Order *Department of Civil Registration and Census *Department of Culture and Heritage *Department of Immigration *Department of Local Governance :Previous ministers: :*Lyonpo Tamji Jagar (1968 – 1985) :*HRH Namgyal Wangchuk (1985 – 1991) :*Lyonpo Dago Tshering (1991 – June 1998) :*Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho (July 1998 – August 2003) :*Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley (August 2003 – July 2007)
The Ministry of Information and Communication is responsible for: *Bhutan Infocomm and Media Authority *Department of Civil Aviation *Department of Information and Media *Department of Information Technology *Road Safety and Transport Authority *
Bhutan Broadcasting Service The Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS, dz, འབྲུག་རྒྱང་བསྒྲགས་ལས་འཛིན) is the state-owned radio and television service in Bhutan. A public service corporation which is fully funded by the state and ...
*
Bhutan Post Bhutan Postal Corporation Ltd., or ''Bhutan Post'', is the company in Bhutan responsible for the operation of the postal system. History Until 1996 the post in Bhutan was run by the ''Department of Posts and Telegraphs'', part of the ''Minist ...
*
Bhutan Telecom Bhutan Telecom ( dz, འབྲུག་བརྒྱུད་འཕྲིན) is a telecommunications and Internet service provider in the Kingdom of Bhutan. It is the sole fixed-line telephony provider in the country. It also operates the B-Mob ...
*
Druk Air Drukair Corporation Limited ( dz, འབྲུག་མཁའ་འགྲུལ་ལས་འཛིན།), operating as Drukair — Royal Bhutan Airlines, is the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan, headquartered in the western dzongkha ...
* Kuensel Corporation :Previous Ministers:
The Ministry of Labour and Human Resources is responsible for: *Department of Employment *Department of Human Resources *Department of Labour *Department of Occupational Standards :Previous Ministers:
The Ministry of Works and Human Settlement is responsible for: *Department of Roads *Department of Urban Development & Engineering Serv *Department of Urban Development and Eng. Services *Standard and Quality Control Authority :Previous Ministers: :*Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering :*Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji


Former cabinets


Tshering Tobay's cabinet


Current cabinet


See also

* List of prime ministers of Bhutan * Politics of Bhutan * Constitution of Bhutan * Bhutanese legislation


Notes


External links


The Royal Government of BhutanThe 4th King's 2006 address of the Lhengye Zhungtsho - His Majesty's vision of the future of BhutanMinistry of AgricultureMinistry of Economic AffairsMinistry of EducationMinistry of FinanceMinistry of Foreign AffairsMinistry of HealthMinistry of Home and Cultural AffairsMinistry Information and CommunicationsMinistry of Labour and Human ResourcesMinistry of Works and Human Settlement

Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan (English)
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Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...