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Journalism of Courage
Bhutan is all set to hold its second national elections Saturday with the countrys two major political parties facing off in the polls,logistically aided by India.
We are all ready. It is a free and fair election. We expect the polling to be peaceful, Bhutan Chief Election Commissioner Kunzang Wangdi told PTI.
The polls will be contested by Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT),which is the ruling party in Bhutan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),the major opposition.
In the last election,the opposition could win only two out of the 47 seats up for grabs.
In the first stage of polls on May 31,two parties,the Druk Nymrub Tshogpa (DNT) and Druck Chirwang Tshogpa (DCT),lost out leaving DPT and PDP to contest the final stage of polls Saturday.
Bhutan has a tri-cameral parliament of the King,National Council and the National Assembly. There are 25 seats in the National Council or the Upper House. Five of them are appointed by the King and 20 elected from 20 districts.
The National Assembly or lower house consists of 47 members. Representatives to both houses were elected first in 2008.
The voting will start at 9 am,end at 5 pm and counting will begin immediately after completion of polling. The polling centres will become counting centres when the voting ends. We expect all results to be out by 9 pm tomorrow, he said.
