The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) confirmed that the Opposition Leader and current party President Dorji Wangdi will lead the party in the 2023 polls.
The Bartsham Shongphu MP Passang Dorji said, “When we elected the OL we elected him on the condition that if we get a new Presidential candidate that creates the ‘wow factor,’ we will welcome. Not to say that OL is not a capable leader and he will not be able to lead us.”
He said the OL accepted to lead the party based on the understanding that if somebody more suitable is brought in by the party, he will step down, but at the moment he would lead the party.
“We kept it open for almost one and half years after OL Pema Gyamtsho left in September 2020. Now, one year ago, we made a decision that there is no talking about a new Presidential candidate either from within the party or outside and whatever may the outcome, OL will be the Presidential candidate and we will fight the election under him,” said Passang.
He said that in DPT they are very open and the OL never takes decision on his own.
“We vote on certain decisions in the party and sometimes we argue and sometimes we have to fight tooth and nail to get our agenda across,” the MP said.
He said they voted among the serving MPs using a secret ballot. The former OL had left during COVID and they needed a new leader to take over the party and for legitimacy and smooth transition they had to improvise a way of doing things without violating the charter.
“We did it in two stages. First among the serving MPs out of 16, OL got 14 yes and 2 no. In the second stage we tasked the Vice President Ugyen Wangdi to do a secret ballot and most executive members agreed to have OL as our President,” he said.
The party said they had even approached two potential candidates outside the party but both of them had turned it down.
Before voting there were a 3 to 4 candidates consisting of MPs and those outside. The sitting ones backed out saying Dorji Wangdi is the senior MP to lead them and a party member also later backed down.
