The Bhutanese Leading the way.
A new political party, Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP), joins the race in the National Assembly election 2023. The party was officially registered on 9 January 2023 and the party’s election symbol is an elephant, which symbolizes strength, character and stability.
According to BTP, the party has a mix of highly capable and competent candidates from a wide range of educational background, experience and age. The party is confident enough to share that they have got all the 47 candidates who will be revealed over a period of time.
The party tagline is ‘Your Voice, Your Choice,’ emphasizing on freedom of expression and responsibilities to ensure social justice and human security by keeping people at the center of development.
BTP aims to bring about the much-needed change in the lives of the people by creating a robust national economy with particular focus on household income. The party believe that there is much to be done, but nothing that can’t be done.
It is time to shift gears, said Party President Dasho Pema Chewang, adding that they will explore new areas of opportunities for the people and unleash their potential to make them competitive in the global market.
He said, “Our mission and vision, while establishing our party, is what matters the most, is not the individual candidates. It’s not about the candidate or the party but for democracy, country and the people.”
He said their party is different from other parties, in terms of cleansing the systems, removing structure barriers and improving public services. They are different in terms of selection of candidates, commitment, dedication and integrity.
“The support we got from the people calling us, showing their interest in becoming party coordinators and candidates is what excited us the most. It is overwhelming to see their support from the very beginning,” he said.
Though they want and invite as much as women candidates in their party, it was difficult to get one, he said. They have approached a few of the capable women, but they do not want to participate given their own reasons.
However, he said, “Having women candidate with no proper principal will have no impact. We did create a quota system in our party, but we are compromising on the integrity, professionalism, dedication and commitments of the candidates.”
They are inclusive, and they have two to three women candidates in the party.
Creating an enabling environment for everyone in the country, which they have been talking about a lot in the past, is the need of the hour now. It is now time to roll up the sleeves and get things done. They will make the best use of technology to rationalize and improve services to the people, he added.
He said, “While development activities, such as building roads, bridges and other infrastructures are important, these are already part of the country’s development plans, and any government must execute them.”
He further added that Bhutan’s progress has been stymied by institutional and systemic barriers that has made availing public services extremely difficult and time consuming.
He said, “Removing structural barriers, harmonizing laws and policies by taking into consideration the ground realities, and ensuring effective implementation of systemic and relevant reforms with the help of our hard working and honest civil servants, are some of our priorities.”
Meanwhile, they do not foresee any challenges, he said, adding that all the political parties has got a good base and are firmly root giving more choice to the people. People will decide as per the candidates and party principals.
BTP began their familiarization tour on 13 January after offering their prayers at the Punakha Dzong. The party will declare its manifesto soon.
