The Election Commission of Bhutan, after a royal decree, officially issued the schedule of the National Assembly elections at a press conference, today.
The Chief Election Commissioner made a detailed reading of events leading up to the general elections scheduled on July 13. Beginning today, the political parties will begin their submission of letters of intent for their eligibility in the elections, and eligible postal voters will start submitting their applications to respective returning officers. The letters of intent will be scrutinised by the Election Commission on May 6, which is also the date when political parties can start campaigning.
“The campaign for the primary round will be party-based and we expect that parties and their supporters will talk about their manifestos, vision and mission…and not bridges, roads, schools, etc.,” the Chief Election Commissioner, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said pointedly, establishing that during this period, parties should refrain from making specific promises.
A party can withdraw from the elections on or before May 8.
The Commission, with lessons learnt from the National Council elections has considered certain improvements.
“We will create “clinics” in some public areas, so that anyone who wants help will find it. One of the Commissioners will also entertain long-distance enquiries as we have lots of students and people living abroad who are confused or want to know more about the elections… This time we have also incorporated the correct email addresses of returning officers, last time we had cases where the email addresses were wrong and people had difficulty”, said Dasho Kunzang Wangdi.
The primary round of elections scheduled for May 31 will see two political parties with the highest votes being invited to nominate a candidate for every constituency to contest in the general elections.
