The bye-election for the Chhoekhor_Tang constituency in Bumthang will be conducted on the 19th of next month. The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) announced the poll day this morning. From better roads to accelerated town development works, aspirations are high among the voters.
Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa’s (DNT) aspiring candidate is former BBS journalist Dawa. The 42-year-old has a Bachelors Degree in English Literature from Sherubtse College. He was unveiled earlier last week as the party’s nominee for the bye-election. He also contested for the seat in 2018 but lost.
Meanwhile, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) fielded Tenzin Norbu, a private businessman for the bye-election. The 35-year-old holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland.
Voters in Bumthang say both of them have an equal opportunity to win the election.
“I feel both of them have a very good and fair chance of winning because they are both from strong parties. Since the 2008 parliamentary elections, Chhoekhor_Tang has been a stronghold for DPT. At the same time, Dawa, although he lost during the General Election in 2018, he has now got his second chance and he is a candidate of the ruling government. So, both of them have a fair chance of winning,” said Ugyen Dorji, from Chamkhar in Bumthang.
Voters in Chhoekhor Toed or upper Chhoekhor still wish for their farm road to be blacktopped while residents of Bumthang town want steadfast town development works.
“Since the inception of the democracy in the country, political parties and candidates have pledged to blacktop the road but despite repeated proposals, the past two governments couldn’t fulfil our wishes. Some say our road doesn’t qualify for blacktopping but as it is a very important infrastructure for rural development, we feel there should be some amendments in the road guidelines. All the voters here are wishing for a blacktopped road whoever may win the election,” said Kinley Tshering, the Tshogpa of Kharsa_Thangbi under Chhoekhor in Bumthang.
“It is since the late 1980s that we have been talking about the development of Bumthang town but it has been very slow and it could not be materialised completely. Now, we hope the candidate who wins the election would fulfil the wishes of the people by bringing the issues to the National Assembly to promote and program the development of Bumthang town, once and for all,” added Ugyen Dorji, from Chamkhar.
During this election, postal voting will be given high priority due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike in the past elections, all people of the constituency living outside Bumthang will be able to cast their votes through postal ballots. Postal voting will also be made available to students, health workers and civil servants staying in Bumthang to avoid congestion during the poll day. The registration for postal ballots started today and over one thousand voters got registered for the service already. The last day for registration for postal ballots is on 26th of this month.
Kipchu
