Apart from hobbling the economy and putting immense strain on the health system, the global coronavirus pandemic is delaying elections worldwide.
Many countries like England, Ethiopia, and Nigeria have postponed or rescheduled their elections. And Bhutan’s third Local Government (LG) election, scheduled for next year might face a similar fate if COVID-19 situation worsens.
The LG election for gups, mangmis and tshogpas is scheduled for October next year, and the third Thromde election in February.
But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Election Commission and the Prime Minister’s Office recently met to discuss on rescheduling the election date.
Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering said the postponement of LG election is likely if coronavirus situation becomes severe. Otherwise, polls will be held on the dates set by the election commission. “It all depends on the severity. If lockdowns are in place and there are local transmission and we are on a high alert, there is no way we will have elections. But if the situation remains like the present without local transmission, and the situation improves, then the LG election will be held as per schedule,” Lyonchhen said.
However, the Prime Minister said a concrete decision will be made a month or two before the polls. Meanwhile, the election commission said if the LG election is held on the set date, several measures will be put in place. There will be a strict practice of social distancing at the polls, more polling stations will be set up to avoid crowding and electronic voting machines will be sanitised.
There are over 438,000 registered voters in the country.
Pema Lhaden
