The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) held a press conference after an official declaration of a result yesterday. DNT President and Prime Minister Elect, Dr Lotay Tshering, said that it is not solely the responsibility of politicians but it is also the responsibility of every citizen to make democracy strong.
Meanwhile, he said that DNT is yet to decide on who will be selected as its ten ministers and the Speaker. He said that the Constitution states that only two ministers can be selected per dzongkhag.
“For a minister’s post, we will have to see how capable a candidate is, and select the best among all. It is also must that we give an equal chance to every part of the country so as to avoid the country from getting divided,” he added.
He said that selecting candidates for the ministerial posts is not really a worrisome situation as from the very beginning, DNT selected best of the best candidates, with the hope that people will give DNT a chance to form the government.
In line with this, he said, they will gather all their candidates and then decide. He also said that since the party won four constituencies from the eastern dzongkhags, therefore, the selection of ministers from the east is not a problem as all the candidates are capable.
With a concern over a chance of the country getting divided, he said that they will do everything with equality and justice. “We will not pull those who supported us and we will not push away those who did not support us. Whatever we do, we will do it for all, with no differentiation, be it a dzongkhag with or without ministers,” he added.
DNT President said the party is sad as two of its most capable candidates and founders of DNT, Karma Dorji from Nanglam and Tenzin Lekphell from Bartsham-Shongphu, did not win their seats. “However, they will always remain with DNT.”
In addition, he said that the same team would probably represent DNT again in the 2023 election, should the candidates who couldn’t make it this time wish to do so.
“We will regroup in a week’s time and will plan for the next election. Some may not be eligible by age factor and some might not want to take part. Those who are interested, we will retain them and work for next election and those who won this time will hopefully take part in 2023 election,” he added.
Emphasizing on the women’s participation, he said that DNT doesn’t distinguish between a woman’s participation or a man’s participation, as all candidates are capable Bhutanese. “We are not in favor of women’s quota. Nevertheless, we are happy that all the five women got elected,” he added.
He also said that it is very difficult to find capable women candidate. Dechen Wangmo from North Thimphu said that for Bhutanese women, building competency and capacity is more important than the gender aspects, because creating a more enabling environment for the women to come forward is crucial.
She said, “We must build the competency to come forward and compared to past, this time we have more women, and this, in itself, shows that given the platform, women will come forward and it’s up to the voters to make their choice.”
Meanwhile, Dr Tandin Dorji said that they are missing on a few candidates who could have actually contributed immensely to the country. “In terms of government, we do not see much of a problem under the leadership of the president. In terms of the party structure, we hope that this party will continue in a way we intended it to function,” he added.
He also said that DNT is different because of its party charter and mandates. DNT will elect a new party president because the same person does not hold both the position of a Prime Minister and the party president.
Therefore, DNT will hold a re-election of its party president. “We want to set a good example,” he said, adding that nothing will be mixed and they intend to work closely with the other political parties as well.
