No public gathering would be allowed during the election period, which is from 15th of February till May for the National Council elections and August to October for the National Assembly elections.
This, the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB), says is in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The prohibition of public gatherings during the election period is part of efforts to ensure free and fair elections.
The public gatherings include religious activities and marriage ceremonies. However, religious activities where public gatherings do not take place will be allowed.
“We will not be able to allow public to do unplanned gatherings except if it is at all unavoidable circumstances such as death,” ECB’s Phub Dorji said.
A staggering 172 aspiring candidates have registered with ECB so far. Only 51 have obtained letters of qualification endorsement from the Bhutan Accreditation Council (BAC). ECB is verifying the letters and will accordingly provide the letter of attestation.
The letter of attestation is a letter that certifies that the person contesting has a formal university degree.”We issue the letter but the scrutiny is done by the Bhutan Accreditation Council (BAC) of the Ministry of Education,” Phub Dorji.
“BAC and ECB are working hand in hand. They do all the scrutiny of how they have obtained that degree, whether it is a regular class board degree or part time or a distance and certify accordingly.”
The ECB also says that the aspiring National Council Candidates will have to wrap up their familiarization tour by 15th of this month.
