Gyelyong Tshogdu

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Gyelyong Tshogdu
(National Assembly of Bhutan)
Basic data
Seat: Gyelyong Tshokhang , Thimphu
MPs: 47
Current legislative period
30th
17th
30th 17th 
Distribution of seats:
  • DNT 30
  • DPT 17
    		•
    Website
    nab.gov.bt

    Gyelyong Tshogdu ( English National Assembly of Bhutan ; dzongkha གི་ རྒྱལ་ ཡོངས་ ཚོགས་ འདུ་ ) is the national assembly , ie the lower house in the bicameral system of the parliament ( Chi Tshog ) of Bhutan . The House of Lords is the National Council, Gyelyong Tshogde .

    history

    precursor

    One of the first innovations of the Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorje Wangchuck in 1953 was the creation of the first consultative parliament, the Tshogdu. This consisted of 140 to 150 members. Of these, 105 members were indirectly elected by village heads from a nomination list drawn up by influential families in the villages. Any unconvicted Bhutanese aged 25 or over enjoyed the right to vote. Another 35 members were appointed by the Druk Gyalpo and 10 were sent by the Buddhist clergy. The deputies (Chimis) were elected for three years. The Tshogdu initially met only twice a year in the Punakha Dzong , later in the Dzong of Thimphu, and largely fulfilled an acclamation function. Political parties were banned until 2007, so that no regular opposition developed. Decisions were negotiated by broad consensus.

    In 1959, the Tshogdu passed the Thrimzhung Chenmo , the constitution.

    Since 1969 the competencies of the Tshogdu have been expanded. The royal veto on legislative initiatives by the Tshogdu was abolished; the Druk Gyalpo asked the Tshogdu a vote of confidence every three years. In addition, the Tshogdu received the competence to express suspicion to the Druk Gyalpo with a two-thirds majority and to force him to resign in favor of his heir to the throne. This never happened, however, as the Druk Gyalpo enjoyed a high level of approval in the Tshogdu. In 1971 he received 133 of the 137 votes present in the second vote of confidence.

    New voting system

    On April 22, 2007, a royal decree was issued that allowed the establishment of political parties in Bhutan. The People's Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Prime Minister Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, was the first political party to be formed in Bhutan. In July 2007, the Bhutan United Peoples Party (BPUP) and the All Peoples Party (APP) merged to form Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT, German: Bhutanese Party for Peace and Prosperity ), which was led by former Prime Minister Lyonpo Jigme Y. Thinley. Both parties promised to build a solid democracy. The electoral commission then registered the DPT and the PDP as parties for the first general election on March 24, 2008.

    Since then, it has consisted of 47 elected representatives. The elections for the National Assembly take place in two rounds. In the first round, citizens vote for a party of their choice. For the second round, the two parties with the most votes from the first round of voting can nominate candidates who are then elected in the constituencies according to majority voting. This form of the electoral system is therefore a more stringent form of absolute majority voting .

    The right to stand as a candidate continues to apply from the age of 25, but civil servants and bhikkhu have been excluded from this in contrast to the previously applicable Tshogdu. As a further requirement, candidates must have a university degree.

    All citizens over the age of 18 have the right to vote, although the bhikkhu are also excluded here.

    The term of office is five years. The National Assembly enacts and changes laws and can repeal them, it approves the state budget and taxes, as well as the five-year plans.

    Jigme Zangpo has been the spokesman for the National Assembly since the election in 2018 .

    elections

    Three elections to the National Assembly have taken place so far (as of 2018).

    • 2008 : There were only two parties in this election. Therefore the first ballot was skipped. The PDP won 45 of the 47 mandates. The DPT received 2 mandates.
    • 2013 : The DPT, which had been in opposition until then, won 32 mandates and thus appointed the Prime Minister for the first time. A total of four parties took part in the first round of the election.
    • 2018 : The PDP, which had ruled until then, was only third in the first ballot and thus lost all mandates. The new ruling party was the Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT), which ran for the first time and with 30 seats won the majority of the constituencies in the second ballot.

    Web links

    The National Assembly website (English)

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ a b Awadhesh Coomar Sinha: Bhutan . ethnic identity and national dilemma. In: Sociological publications in honor of K. Ishwaran . No. 10 . Reliance Publishing House, New Delhi 1991, ISBN 81-85047-82-0 , pp. 197-204 .
    2. ^ Herbert Wilhelmy : Bhutan . Land of monastic castles. In: Beck's series . 830: Current country customers. Beck, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-33176-9 , pp. 47 .
    3. ↑ a b c Karma Phuntsho: The history of Bhutan . House, London 2013, ISBN 978-1-908323-58-3 , pp. 566 f .
    4. ↑ BHUTAN Tshogdu (National Assembly), ELECTIONS IN 2008. In: INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION. Retrieved August 14, 2018 .
    5. ↑ a b Secretariat of the National Assembly of Bhutan (ed.): Information brochure of the National Assembly . ( gov.bt [PDF]).
    6. ↑ a b BHUTAN Tshogdu (National Assembly), ELECTORAL SYSTEM. In: INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION. Retrieved August 14, 2018 .
    7. ↑ ELECTION COMMISSION OF BHUTAN: NOTIFICATION Third Parliamentary Elections 2018: National Assembly English , accessed on October 12, 2018
    8. ↑ Declaration of the Results of the Third Parliamentary Elections 2018: General Election to the National Assembly - Election Commission of Bhutan. Retrieved November 12, 2018 .