Bye-election: Three months after the death of their last tshogpa, Toedkor chiwog in Laya, Gasa, elected 35-year old Dorji Lathro as their new tshogpa (representative.)

Dorji Lathro, who contested against Lekey Tshewang, 27, won the bye-election on April 6 in Laya by 29 votes,.

Gasa dzongkhag’s electoral officer, S Narayan said the bye-election saw 43 voters  out of the 88 registered voters turned up to vote.

Dorji Lathro was a former monk at the Layap lhakhang. He had also served as Gyaldrung for two years at Laya the gewog office. His contestant Lekey Tshewang is a class VII dropout.

S Narayan said the bye-election had to be deferred due to the customary migratory practices of the Layap to lower belts of Punakha and Wangdue.

Initially, four candidates had appeared for the functional literacy and position of skilled tests, of which two got registered with the election office for the bye-election.

During the first local government election, the polling station was set up in the chiwog. This time, the polling station was relocated to Laya BHU, which is about less than five minutes walk from the chiwog. “We expected more than 60 percent of the voter to turn out,” he said.

By Dawa Gyelmo, Wangdue