By Passang Dorji

Nov 30, 2008-Thimphu: The cabinet endorsement of the new chief executive officer for Bhutan Post Corporation Ltd. has come as a damper to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The cabinet on November 25 decided not to act on the appointment of Tsheten Gyeltshen and instead recommended severe reprimand to the company’s board of directors and the selection committee.

The Cabinet Secretariat’s press statement to the media noted that the selection committee had not abided by the announced criteria, and none of the applicants had qualified for the post; and as such the process should have been re-advertized.

Thus, the cabinet decided that the current board of directors of the company would be replaced with new members. The cabinet also decided to replace the officiating secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), Phala Dorji, who was the chairman of the board and chaired the selection committee. 

The cabinet, however, endorsed the appointment of Tsheten Gyeltshen as the new CEO. The cabinet found that the chairman had ambiguously presented the decision of the board to the MoIC without making it clear whom they recommended, which was approved by the minister.

Therefore, the cabinet did not reconsider the appointment saying the selected candidate was not at fault, and he had already resigned from the civil service.

In response to the cabinet decision, the ACC chairperson, Neten Zangmo, said: “I have no comments on the government’s (in)action. If this is the translation of the honorable ministers’ stand on good governance and zero-tolerance to corruption, my colleagues and I have to take stock of our operations and redirect our energy.”

Neten Zangmo said the fight against corruption has not began at all, but there was already a lot of resistance building. “But we will continue to fight.”

The ACC revoked the selection result of the CEO in September after its investigation revealed that the selection procedure was flawed and unprofessional.

Apart from candidates not qualifying for the post, the selection result was not signed by all the committee members. The markings on the candidates were also at extremes. Some criteria were changed deviating from the terms of reference made by the finance ministry.

In September the ACC submitted its investigation report to the finance ministry proposing appropriate action against the five-member recruitment committee. It also proposed action against the three Bhutan Post officials involved in the selection interview. The ACC held the MoIC responsible for endorsing the result.

The new CEO took over office amid controversy in October after the chairman of the Bhutan Post board issued the office order.

The ACC swiftly objected to the office order issued by Phala Dorji. The chairman was held responsible for the unprofessional and non-transparent recruitment process. The ACC stated that the chairman’s move was a serious breach of code of conduct and ethics.

“The new CEO took office when the case was still controversial,” said an ACC source, “because we were still waiting for the finance ministry to take action against the officials involved.”

The case instead reached the cabinet; the first case of corruption to reach there ever since ACC’s inception.