Shattering their earlier record
YANGCHEN LHAMO
Thimphu
The Fourth Parliamentary National Assembly Primary Round Election held on 30 November saw the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) win by a large margin, staggering 42.53% compared to other political parties.
The PDP recorded the highest number of votes in both electronic voting machines (EVM) and postal ballots. With 83,052 votes in EVMs and 50,165 votes in postal ballots, the PDP surpassed the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP) by 44,327 votes in EVMs and 27,559 votes in postal ballots, underscoring their wide-ranging popularity across various voting methods.
With 136,105 votes, the PDP left their closest rival, the BTP, far behind, with a staggering lead of 71,886 votes. This immense difference underscored the PDP’s popularity and trust among Bhutanese voters, accounting for 22.95% more votes than the BTP.
The PDP garnered an astonishing 86,523 votes more than the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), showcasing a significant 27.62% gap between the two parties. Additionally, the gap between the PDP and Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) was even more substantial, with the PDP securing a massive 92,111 votes more, representing a 29.32% difference.
The PDP also secured 102,403 more votes than the newly formed Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa (DTT), extending their lead by 32.7% in terms of voter percentage between the parties.
Besides securing the highest votes, the PDP also won in most of the constituencies. It won 39 of the 47 constituencies, while the BTP won 4 constituencies and DNT and DPT won two constituencies each.
Meanwhile, the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP) secured a significant vote share, obtaining 61,331 votes, accounting for 19.58% of the total votes. The party emerged as the runner-up, securing the second-highest number of votes both in EVMs, with 38,725 votes, and in postal ballots, with 22,606 votes.
The Primary round of the 2023 National Assembly election saw the PDP and the BTP going through to the final General Election scheduled for 9th January 2024.
The DPT secured the third highest votes of 46, 694 votes followed by DNT at 41,106 votes. Among them was BTT getting 30,814 votes in the national assembly primary round election.
According to the Election Commission of Bhutan, the overall voter turnout is 63%. Of the total 497,058 eligible registered voters, 313,162 voters cast their votes. From the total votes cast, 195,719 votes were cast in person on the EVM, and 117,443 votes were cast through postal ballots.
The ECB has invited the two highest-ranked political parties to nominate candidates for the 47 National Assembly Demkhongs for the general elections. Nominations will begin on 4 December 2023, and the deadline is December 9, 2023.
Meanwhile, the remaining three parties, DNT, DPT, and DTT must file Returns of election expenses within 30 days of the primary round results.
With the primary round now concluded, the PDP and BTP will advance to the final general election, scheduled for January 9, 2024.
However, PDP secured only 32.53 % of the votes during the primary round for the National Assembly elections 2013 held on 31 May 2013.
