The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Chheku Dukpa the founder of a new political party in the works, Druk Gaki Tshogpa has taken Bhutan’s social media scene by storm with his nickname ‘Jackson Dukpa’ through a series of facebook posts.
‘Jackson Dukpa’ initially gained both fame and also courted controversy in his attention grabbing posts on facebook along with his frequent online fights with his critics.
Of late he has been dominating the facebook scene compared to other parties with declarations of not taking pay if he is elected as PM to asking people to see the other side of him interspersed with live videos of him singing and dancing including a dance sequence in a drayang and karaoke.
Many initially accused him of seeking publicity for the sake of it, buffoonery and treated him as a joke but off late Chheku aka Jackson Dukpa has been gaining some traction with some facebook users with some populist promises and lesser number of fights with critics. Some have even promised to vote for him.
Whether all of this will amount to anything or any votes, only time will tell, but for now Chheku is the most visible and discussed political entity on social media leading up to the 2018 race. Incredibly he has even displaced the regular online back and forth jibes between the current mainstream parties and singlehandedly turned all the 2018 election attention on him, for now atleast.
The Jackson Dukpa phenomenon is also seen by some as reflection of the social media culture in Bhutan, its nature and its impact.
When asked if was serious Chheku said “I am serious contender for winning next election, my party is ready for the elections.”
Asked about his dance and song performances on facebook he said, “Singing songs and dancing are my hobbies, that is why my friends calls me ‘Jackson’.”
On his frequent fights with critics he said, “I don’t care about nasty comments on my posts in facebook, because these are the people who don’t know me and I will fight back. If they know me they won’t react on my posts.”
Chheku said Druk Gaki Tshogpa (DGT), is currently working toward getting registered with the Election Commission of Bhutan so that it can participate in Bhutan’s third general election in 2018.
Chheku, who is a civil engineer by profession, said DGT is going to focus on finding solutions rather than playing the ‘blame game’.
He said the party so far has 600 members and it will aim at having two candidates each in all 205 gewogs. He claimed that as of now they are left with 15 gewogs.
He also said the party has candidates who have good education, positive mind and who will make personal sacrifices to serve the Tsa-Wa-Sum. “A person with high qualification and face value might win votes but may not serve well,” Chheku Dukpa said.
The party has already drafted the party charter and plans to register with the Election Commission of Bhutan after they have finalized everything.
“I will bring my party in first three positions in primary round, but in final round it will be in the hand of the voters,” Chheku Dukpa said. “We are committed to fulfill the aspirations of our beloved kings.”
He said the response to his party so far has been much more than expected. “Don’t love a party but love your country,” he said.
On a concluding note he said, “Not only Bhutan, I can change the world if I become the next Prime Minister.”
