Bhutan has a new Government.

Oppn storms to power in Bhutan

PDP Wins 32 Of 47 Seats, Vows To Sort Out Problems With India; Turnout 80%

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thimphu: The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) drubbed Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) to capture power in Bhutan’s second general election on Saturday.
    PDP is known as an organization whose foreign policy is in alignment with that of the Bhutanese monarchy, which stands for a strong friendship between India and Bhutan.
    PDP won 32 seats and DPT 15. The National Assembly, the kingdom’s parliament, has a total of 47 seats. “We’re grateful to the people of Bhutan and will try our best to fulfil their expectations,” PDP secretary-general Sonam Jatsho said. He pledged to sort out all problems with India.
    PDP president Tshering Tobgay (47), who contested from Haa in western Bhutan bordering the strategic Chumbi Valley, is likely to be the next prime minister.
    Tobgay, an alumnus of Harvard University, is a former civil servant.
    In the 2008 polls, DPT had humiliated PDP by winning 45 seats. PDP was founded by Sangay Ngdup, an uncle of former monarch Jigme Singhey Wangchuck (the present monarch’s father). After the defeat, Nhedup quit politics, paving the way for Tobgay to take charge of PDP.
    PDP’s win came as a big surprise to most Bhutanese. It had won just 12 seats as against DPT’s 33 in the primary election held in May last to choose the two top parties eligible for Saturday’s poll. The kingdom follows a bi-party system. Druk Nyamdrup Tshogpa (DNT), which had won two seats in the primary round, merged with PDP.
    DPT had a number of heavyweights, including former PM Jigmi Y Thinley, as its candidates. Thinley’s family has served the palace for generations. “It was Thinley’s father who had composed our national anthem,” said a journalist. Compared to this, PDP had mostly nominees who were little known in the country. “In 2008, we got just two seats because DPT said we had no experienced leaders,” remarked Jatsho while reviewing the 2008 defeat.
    PDP’s chances grew manifold after word spread that India was not happy with DPT, especially Thinley, when campaigning gained momentum after the preliminary round. This was followed by a bitter argument between the two parties over whether India would help Bhutan implement its 11th five-year plan. Delhi contributes almost 70% of every plan.
    Around this time, New Delhi announced cuts in cooking gas and kerosene subsidies for Bhutan, pushing up their prices by two to three times. As panic spread in the kingdom, DPT and PDP decided not to raise India-Bhutan ties during campaigning, which had never happened in the kingdom before.
    The main cause of “discord” between India and Bhutan is said to be Thinley’s meeting with then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in Rio last year without taking India into confidence. Besides, Delhi is also understood to be upset with the DPT government’s decision to establish diplomatic ties with 32 countries in five years.
    About 80 % of over 380,000 electors cast their votes. Hundreds of people in colourful attire queued up outside over 1,000 polling stations across the kingdom. Soon after voting began, Tobgay said, “ This election is absolutely critical because stakes are high.”
    With inputs from agencies

QUEUING UP FOR CHANGE: People queue up to cast their votes at a polling station in Thimphu on Saturday