After more than a year and two bye-elections, the people of Pangthang-Redingla Chiwog in Pema Gatshel’s Chhimoong Gewog finally elected their chiwog tshogpa. A tshogpa serves as a key link between the local government and the people in the communities.
The first bye-election to elect a tshogpa in Pangthang-Redingla Chiwog saw no one show interest in the position. The election was forfeited.
However, to the delight of the people, two candidates stood during the second bye-election and the chiwog went to polls to elect their tshogpa, yesterday.
“We are left behind in developmental works compared to other chiwogs. Now we are hoping our elected tshogpa will take up the pending works for the chiwog. We hope he will take up those issues to the Gewog Tshogde, and will also make up for the lost time in the remaining years,” said Jigme Tenzin, a resident of the chiwog.
“We finally have a tshogpa. We have a place to appeal. We are now hoping that we can discuss important matters and accordingly prepare development activities,” said Lungten, another resident.
The people said they realised the importance of a tshogpa amid the hardships they faced without one.
“We faced difficulty in gathering people during important meetings. We had difficulty planning out things in the absence of a tshogpa. Compared to other chiwogs with tshogpas, our chiwog was lagging. We have missed out on a lot of developmental activities,” said Lungten.
“Without a tshogpa, we faced a lot of inconveniences. People did not have a place to appeal to and discuss things. And in the absence of a tshogpa, we missed out on information from the government as there was no one giving us information on time,” said Jigme Tenzin.
Of the two candidates, 25-year-old, Kinzang Chedon, secured 14 votes.
And the winner, 38-year-old, Jigme Wangchuk, got 34 votes to be elected as the chiwog tshogpa. The chiwog has 216 eligible voters but only 54 voted with six postal ballots rejected.
Similarly, Maedtsho Gewog in Lhuentse elected Chedrup Sonam Lhundup as their gup in the bye-election yesterday.
Likewise, Wangdue Phodrang’s Kazhi Gewog elected Gyem Thinley as mangmi and Paro Hungrel Gewog’s Gaupel Chiwog elected Tashi Tshering as a tshogpa.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
Edited by Sherub Dorji
