There’s work ahead
2 April, 2008 - We have had a number of post election issues to deal with. After the results of the election, when the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa overwhelmed the People’s Democratic Party with a 45-2 constituent victory, we saw one result reversed, two PDP candidates proposing to withdraw and then reversing that decision, and a range of allegations, observations, and comments on the results of the election. Then we saw about 1,000 people appealing to His Majesty the King for intervention.
All this appears quite dramatic at first glance. But, in the overall perspective of the democratic process, we understand that it is just the beginning. This is the first of many headaches that the process of political transformation will bring. In many ways, all of us are learning the rules as we go along. So, we are likely to keep debating and discussing each issue as it comes up. The Constitution, Election Act, and a host of legislations, policies, and regulations are new to us today and it will be a long time before we are familiar with them.
The historic general election is now behind us. It was an unprecedented event and we will continue to discuss issues that have arisen from our first attempt at adult franchise. Hopefully, we have already learnt lessons from our experience and will continue to do so as we get a better perspective on the issues.
The election was a success by any standard. An 80 percent voter turnout is unheard of today, anywhere. We can only hope that the Bhutanese electorate will maintain its interest in future elections.
The result was not ideal. Perhaps there is nothing such as an ideal election result. What we do know is that an election will not please everyone and that some candidates will have to lose.
Most of us, observers, politicians, and voters, were surprised by the margin of DPT’s victory. We saw many good candidates lose. There are many theories floating around and there will be more to come. But, in trying to understand what happened, we have to separate reason from speculation. At the moment, the only pattern we have seen is that voters, across the country, kept their decisions to themselves.
PDP has raised a number of complaints. If they are based on facts, we would all like to see them investigated. If not, they should be dropped as quickly as possible.
We would all like to get over this post election furor and see good governance take shape. As part of a larger vision, we have much to do.
Our elections are free - it’s in the results where eventually we pay
Source: Kuelselonline