The country’s two political parties will soon begin their final round of getting to voters in the run-up to form the new government with the detailed dates for campaigning and the first general election announced on Thursday.

Voters can expect more meetings and promises as parties start formally campaigning from January 22 with the release of the party manifestos. Campaigning will formally end at 9 am on March 22. The general election will be held on March 24 from 9 am to 5 pm.

“We’ve been engaged in familiarizing people on the electoral process, but now the tone of our campaign will differ substantially,” said the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa spokesperson, Thinley Jamtsho. “Voters will hear from us what they’d been expecting. We’ve been very subtle in our messages. We will now promise people what our party can do.”

Election Schedule

22 Jan :
Release of party manifestos by political parties

31 Jan – 7 Feb :
File candidate nominations

7 Feb :
Start candidate debates

18 Feb :
Last date for postal ballot

22 March :
End of election campaign

24 March :
Poll day

25 March :
Results declaration

“We’ll be able to campaign without the restrictions of the familiarization period,” said the spokesperson for the People’s Democratic Party, Tashi Tsering. “Something as basic as our candidates being able to say ‘vote for me – I will ensure that all children have access to schools’.”

He said that during the familiarization period they were focussed on creating awareness of their party. “During this campaign, the focus will shift to the candidates and why people should vote for them. Our party manifesto will be out and people can see how PDP intends to serve them in the next five years,” he said.

Both parties said that they would not engage in open rallies although ECB rules allow rallies in designated places. “We’ll be aggressive in our campaigns, but we will be peaceful,” said Thinley Jamtsho. “It doesn’t look good.”

PDP had earlier suggested to the election commission that the election be held in February and anticipated a brief intense campaign period. However, with the new dates, the party believes that more time for the campaign period would be better for the democratic process. “Our people will have a clearer understanding of the new system of government, the electoral process, and the importance of their right to vote,” said Tashi Tsering.

According to ECB’s announcement, the election period begins with the two political parties submitting letters of intent, lists of candidates, copies of election manifestos, audited financial statements among others, to the commission on January 22.

With only two political parties registered to contest the election, there will be no primary round. However, the two parties are being given time to carry out activities that pertain to the primary round, according to the chief election commissioner, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi. Primary round activities include parties presenting themselves as political parties, presenting manifestos and communicating with voters.

Parties will start nominating their candidates from January 31 to February 7, after which candidates can start campaigning if their nomination is accepted. While the dates for the TV debates between the party presidents has not been announced, those between candidates in the constituencies will start from February 7.

Asked if election would go ahead if a candidate is disqualified, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said that uncontested election, using “Yes” and “No” votes will be held in a constituency where there is only a single candidate.

Meanwhile, eligible Bhutanese voters should register with ECB before February 20, the day the electoral roll closes. The roll will be updated to include those eligible voters who turned 18 on January 1. The final roll will be issued on March 5.

Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said that with a lot of people considering the National Assembly elections as the “main” election, voter turnout would increase. He said that ECB is looking into the feedback from the National Council election and will review the postal ballot facility. “We hope there’ll be more people applying for the postal ballot facility,” he said.

The last date for receipt of applications for postal ballot is on February 18.

The poll day on March 24 will be a national holiday and ECB is urging both government and other organizations to grant leave of absence to voters, as required by election law.
Source: Kuenselonline