The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Primary Round of National Assembly Election 2018 in Mongar was dominated by the former Opposition Party, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), winning in all the three constituencies.
DPT’s Ugyen Wangdi secured 4,694 votes from Dremedtse Ngatshang constituency, of which 2,977 were from Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and 1,717 from Postal Ballot (PB).
Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) won 1,844 votes (1,003 EVM + 841 PB), while People’s Democratic Party (PDP) got 1,644 votes (1,138 EVM + 506 PB). Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party (BKP) managed 853 votes (469 EVM + 384 PB).
Ugyen Wangdi said, “People’s trust and faith, DPT’s performance both inside and outside the Parliament, and my relationship with the voters helped me win the primary round of election from my constituency.”
He further added, “I am now convinced that we cannot predict election result, and in general election also, the result will be overwhelming like in primary round, but of course I am happy with the primary round results.” He said DPT is likely to meet with stiff competition during the general round.
“Voters who voted for PDP and BKP in primary round are likely to vote for DNT, as many people say. But we believe the voters will vote for us if they find us capable, especially because we served the nation for 10 years. We shall work hard to convince the voters to vote for the right party,” he pointed out.
Karma Lhamo from DPT received the highest votes from her constituency in Mongar with 2,601 votes (1,358 EVM + 1,243 PB). DNT won 2, 056 votes (830 EVM + 1,226 PB) while PDP secured 2,045 votes (1,355 EVM + 690 PB). BKP got a total of 584 votes (278 EVM + 306 PB).
Karma Lhamo said, “If the general election is conducted fairly without candidate swapping, DPT will form the government like in 2008. But I believe in that Bhutanese voters are smart enough to vote for the right party and candidate, they are more aware and educated unlike in past elections.”
From Kengkhar Weringla constituency, DPT secured 1,749 votes by EVM and 1,738 PB taking the total votes to 3,487, while runners up DNT got 2,292 votes of which 960 votes were from EVM and 1,332 PB. While, PDP secured 956 votes, 512 votes by EVM and 444 PB, BKP managed 485 votes in which of which 268 were from EVM and 217 PB.
Mongar has a total of 34,589 registered voters, 17, 966 males and 16, 623 females.
