Centre-left DNT win may strengthen India-Bhutan relations

Centre-Left DNT, which seeks to strengthen and diversify economic ties with India, has won 30 seats in the 47-member National Assembly, the lower house of the Bhutanese parliament, marking a unique trend in South Asia where a new political party has won every time the Himalayan nation went to polls since 2008.
Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), which won the elections in 2008, has got the remaining 17 seats. This was the third elections in Bhutan since democracy was introduced in 2008. Both the DNT and DPT fielded 47 candidates each in the final round in a bid to lead the young democracy for the next five years Bhutan transitioned from a century-old monarchy to democracy in 2008. According to the Buddhist country’s constitution, only two parties with the highest votes in the primary round qualify for the final round.

The ruling People’s Democratic Party of Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay lost in the round held in September and got ousted from the contest.

Over 71 per cent of all registered voters had cast their vote after polling closed on Thursday evening. This was higher than the voting percentage of 66 per cent in last month’s primary round and the 2013 general elections.

Bhutan’s next prime minister will be 50-year-old Lotay Tshering, a consultant urologist. He had joined politics in 2013 when he became the last announced candidate for DNT.

Since he was working in a government hospital, Tshering had to pay Ngultrum 6.2 million (about Rs 6.2 lakh) to clear service obligations before his resignation was accepted from service to be able to stand for elections. However, both DNT and Tshering were knocked out in the primary round in the second National Assembly elections in 2013.