There is likely to be more than four candidates 

LG: The incumbent gup for Ganzur, Karma, will not contest in the upcoming Local Government (LG) election as most of the targets he set out to achieve have been met and also because he has 16 children to raise.

During his  term, 11 villages were connected by farm roads, while a 4km farm road in Somshing is under construction. Suspension bridges have been constructed, lhakhangs have been renovated, and electricity supplied to the villages of Shawa, Tsholing, Semchebi and Ney.

The recent dzongkhag tshogdu also approved the construction of a suspension bridge to the Nye Tsachu which is located 40km away from the gewog.

Work plans, programmes and projects have also been completed for the next financial year and await the new gup.

Besides achieving most of the gewog’s targets and serving the Tsawa-Sum, Karma decided not to re-contest so that others can also have an opportunity.

However, another factor is because the gup is concerned about his 16 children’s educational needs.

“Being a father of 16 children, and husband of three wives, and three more children on the way, providing education is difficult,” said Karma.

In the last five years of his term, the gup spent Nu 1.6 million to educate his children. He said that a gup’s monthly salary is not enough. Prior to becoming the gup, Karma was a contractor.

He also said that he needs to help his wife who runs a hotel and automobile workshop in Lhuentse.

While four of his children have completed college, he still has children spread out from pre-primary to higher secondary.

To meet their needs, Karma has decided to become a contractor again.

Of three candidates who contested for the post of gup in the first LG election in Ney chiwog, Karma secured more than 400 votes. His two opponents combined did not secure that many.

For the upcoming LG election, there are more than four candidates who will contest for the post of gup, however, they are yet to officially register.

Of 21 participants, 15 men and six women have passed the Functional Literacy Test (FLT) conducted recently in the gewog. There are more than a thousand eligible voters registered with election office in the dzongkhag.

There are 93 males and 52 females in the dzongkhag’s eight gewogs with FLT certificates.

Tashi Phuntsho | Lhuentse