The Bhutanese Leading the way.
With the upcoming National Assembly Elections, the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) is to regulate party manifestos.
According to ECB, with regard to parties’ manifestos and campaign pledges, in the past, the mandate for reviewing these documents was placed directly under the purview of ECB.
There have been instances in the past elections where the ECB required some parties to either remove or revise certain parts of their manifestos or campaign pledges based on the provisions enshrined in the Election Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan and various rules.
With a view to further strengthen the reviewing process, provisions to institute an Independent Evaluation Committee (IEC) were included in the Rules on Elections Conduct in the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2022. In keeping with the new rules, the party manifesto and campaign pledges shall be subjected to an evaluation by IEC. The evaluation process carried out by IEC will ensure that unrealistic or unreasonable parties’ manifestos and campaign pledges are strictly addressed.
ECB said the entire mandate of ECB is premised on the principles of holding free, fair and transparent elections. Neutrality and impartiality are essential foundational values that the ECB pursues in discharging its election mandate. ECB, in its endeavor to create nation-wide awareness on electoral activities prior to an election, carries out civic and voter education in all the 20 dzongkhags, organizes workshops for political parties or candidates and meetings with the general secretaries of the political parties.
During the election period in the event political parties or candidates are found making promises, in deviation of the approved party manifesto and campaign pledges, the case shall be dealt with by the dispute settlement bodies.
As far as the submission of the manifestos and campaign pledges are concerned, all the five registered political parties have been notified to simultaneously submit their manifestos and campaign pledges on 28 September 2023 for evaluation.
