The campaign period of the political parties will begin this Sunday. The Election Commission has handed back the final manifestos of the political parties after a comprehensive review by an Independent Evaluation Committee. The commission announced the initiation of the manifesto evaluation system in September last year to ensure fair elections and prevent the spread of unrealistic pledges by the parties.
In keeping with section 5 of the Rules on Elections Conduct in the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2022, the five registered political parties submitted their manifestos around the end of September this year.
The review process, which spanned almost a month, was carried out in accordance with the revised rules on election conduct announced in September last year.
According to the ECB, during the evaluation of the manifestos, about three rounds of queries and responses were carried out between the Independent Evaluation Committee or IEC and the political parties.
The manifesto evaluation system is to ensure that no political party or candidate makes any unrealistic or unreasonable pledge or promise.
However, the identity of the IEC members who assisted the Commission in evaluating the manifestos and campaign pledges of political parties and candidates remains confidential.
The political parties said they have given their feedback to the ECB regarding the manifesto evaluation process to improve it for future elections.
“If the committee members don’t have experience in governance then the review can happen in a narrow perspective. So, it will be better if the committee members have good experience in governance in the future,” said Tshering Dorji from the Bhutan Tendrel Party.
“In the past, we always submitted our manifestos to the ECB. They did review but they never gave us feedback. So, this is the first time that they have reviewed in detail, also appointed a special team, and asked us questions. And in our view, I think this is very relevant. Although it is not the main responsibility of ECB to do that, our democracy has always been very unique and to protect the people from unfounded, unresearched and populist pledges,” said Tandi Dorji from the Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa.
“We must acknowledge that there were very good comments. At the same time, we also gave our honest feedback on the review process which we believe and we hope that the ECB would have taken it in good faith. And we have submitted our review on the review process. There, we were very honest that we suggested that the review could be broadened up in perspectives and also in terms of the considerations of issues. Most of the things have been considered,” said Passang Dorji from the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa.
The Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa said “the party is happy with the outcome of the manifesto review and approval by the ECB. The party spokesperson also added that almost 99.9 per cent of the pledges the party had submitted have been scrutinized thoroughly and approved which signifies the wholehearted efforts put in by the President and the party.”
“Well Bhutan is a very different country and we cannot compare our country with any of the other countries. I think this was an initiative that was well thought out and well-designed. And it was implemented in an in-depth analysis. Scrutiny was implemented for the first time and of course, it would have some teething problems and we can only improve every election and I think there is a reason for that,” said Norbu Wangchuk from the People’s Democratic Party.
The registered political parties were not allowed to reveal or distribute their manifestos until the review process was completed.
According to section 5.2.4 of the Rules on Elections Conduct in the Kingdom of Bhutan 2022, “all political parties shall not, without the approval of the Commission, release or otherwise publicize any manifesto or document detailing the programmes and policies it will implement.”
However, with the completion of the evaluation of the manifestos and campaign pledges of the political parties, the five registered political parties are set to reveal their manifestos in the coming days.
Kinzang Lhadon
Edited by Phub Gyem
