2023–24 Bhutanese National Assembly election

30 November 2023 (first round) 9 January 2024 (second round)
All 47 seats in the National Assembly 24 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	65.60%
First party Second party   BTP Leader Tshering Tobgay Pema Chewang Party PDP BTP Last election 27.44%, 0 seats – Seats won 30 17 Seat change 30 New
First round results by constituency Second round results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lotay Tshering DNT Elected Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay PDP

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National Assembly elections were held in Bhutan on 30 November 2023 and 9 January 2024.^[1][2]

Background

In the 2018 elections the previously unrepresented Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) won a majority of seats, with their leader Lotay Tshering becoming prime minister.

During the 2018–2023 term the DNT won four by-elections, retaining the seat of Monggar^[3] and winning the seats of Chhoekhor-Tang,^[4] Nganglam^[5] and Khamdang-Ramjar^[6] from Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), the former two being DPT strongholds that the party had never lost before.

In 2022 and 2023 two new parties were registered to compete in the 2023 elections—Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa and Bhutan Tendrel Party.

In January 2023 the Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party (BKP) deregistered itself following years of low activity and difficulty with funding and finding a new party president.^[7] The BKP had come fourth in the 2018 elections.

Electoral system

The 47 members of the National Assembly are elected from single-member constituencies. Primary elections are held in which voters cast votes for candidates of the parties. The top two parties then advance and are able to field the same or different candidates in the main round of voting, in which members are elected using first-past-the-post voting.^[8]

Results

As the top two finishers in the primary round, the People's Democratic Party and Bhutan Tendrel Party advanced to the second round, where they contested for the 47 National Assembly seats. For the first time since the initial elections for the chamber in 2008, the DPT failed to make it past the primary round, and both incumbent parliamentary parties failed to return to the chamber. Only two women were elected, the lowest number since the initial elections in 2008.

Party		First round		Second round		Seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Votes	%
	People's Democratic Party	133,217	42.54			30	+30
	Bhutan Tendrel Party	61,331	19.58			17	New
	Druk Phuensum Tshogpa	46,694	14.91			0	–17
	Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa	41,106	13.13			0	–30
	Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa	30,814	9.84			0	New
Total		313,162	100.00			47	0
Total votes		313,162	–	326,775	–
Registered voters/turnout		497,058	63.00	498,135	65.60
Source: First round: ECB, Kuensel; Second round: ECB, Kuensel

References