Bhutan: Former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay wins parliamentary elections

2024-01-09T17:45:02.085Z

Highlights: Voters in Bhutan, a landlocked country in the eastern Himalayan mountain range with a population of about 800,000 people, were called to vote in parliamentary elections on January 9, 2024. The Tender Party of Bhutan (BTP) won only 17 seats, compared to 30 for the People's Democratic Party, led by 58-year-old Tshering Tobgay, who previously served as prime minister from 2013 to 2018. Youth unemployment has reached 29%, pushing thousands to emigrate in search of a better future.

Bhutan: Former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay wins parliamentary elections

In the end, it was former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and his party, the People's Democratic Party, who won the parliamentary elections, winning nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament. The Electoral Commission is due to publish the final results on Wednesday 10 January. The majority of voters therefore gave their confidence to the PDP, one of the oldest parties in the kingdom since the creation of the Bhutanese parliament, and to a former prime minister. Will they succeed in meeting the serious economic challenges?

Voters in Bhutan, a landlocked country in the eastern Himalayan mountain range with a population of about 800,000 people, were called to vote in parliamentary elections on January 9, 2024. AP - Anupam Nath

By: RFI Follow

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If there is one issue that has been at the centre of attention during this campaign, it is the economic situation. Growth has stagnated for the past 5 years at around 1.7%.

One in eight Bhutanese does not have enough to eat. Youth unemployment has reached 29%, pushing thousands to emigrate in search of a better future. A massive exodus, a brain drain, a priceless loss that has not escaped the victorious parties of the primaries, the PDP and the construction industry, a newcomer on the political chessboard

In the end, the Tender Party of Bhutan (BTP) won only 17 seats, compared to 30 for the People's Democratic Party, led by 58-year-old Tshering Tobgay, who previously served as prime minister from 2013 to 2018.

One of the major challenges for this Harvard graduate will be to diversify the economy, develop rural areas while preserving the philosophy enshrined in the Constitution and which has made Bhutan famous internationally: gross national happiness, set as an absolute priority, in the face of economic expansion.

Read alsoBhutan: the country of "national happiness" goes to the polls in the midst of an economic crisis

Bhutan: Former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay wins parliamentary elections

Bhutan: Former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay wins parliamentary elections

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