LG: Elections in the Paro dzongkhag thromde will be delayed if the upcoming summer session of Parliament endorses a new map for the thromde. The ECB plans to hold the second phase of thromde elections in July.

The last Parliament session agreed to re-draw the dzongkhag thromde’s boundaries after a majority of the people who fell inside the thromde rejected the parliament’s decision.

The Parliament also decided to defer the election following the decision to re-consider its decision on the thromde. The Parliament also decided that the Speaker would accordingly issue instructions to the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB).

However, the ECB has not yet received any letter from the Parliament or the Speaker asking the commission to defer the election. If the upcoming Parliament session re-draws the thromde map, an election official said they will make changes in the election schedule for the Paro thromde.

The ECB will conduct functional literacy test for the thromde and gewog elections in April.

If there are no changes in the current map of Paro dzongkhag thromde, election is expected to be held as planned, in Paro as well.

The ECB has completed the delimitation of the Betekha yenlag thromde for Paro. The Betekha yenlag thromde was approved by the last parliament session although Bondey was earlier proposed as the yenlag thromde.

According to the resolution of the fifth session, Bondey was merged with the dzongkhag thromde.

In a recent meeting held in one of the affected gewogs, Hoongrel, 90 percent of the affected people did not want to be in the thromde.

According to the local leaders, the DT had prepared its own map of the thromde. But the works and human settlement ministry later prepared its own map, pulling three chiwogs of Hoongrel gewog into the thromde boundary.

Hoongrel gup Sangay said the participants of the consultation meeting preferred to go by the map endorsed by the DT. “The decision of the meeting will be submitted to the government,” he said.

The other affected gewog, Wangchang, is also expected to hold public consultation after the Paro tshechu. He said the dzongkhag administration received the directive to hold public consultation some days back. The report from the consultation meeting will be submitted to the government.

MB Subba