The People's Democratic Party (;
Wylie: ''mi-ser dmangs-gtsoi tshogs-pa''; PDP) is one of the major political parties in
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
, formed on 24 March 2007. The founder president of this party is
Sangay Ngedup, the former prime minister and agriculture minister of the Royal Government of Bhutan. The current leader of the party is Tshering Tobgay. The People's Democratic Party submitted its application for registration on 6 August 2007 and thus became the first political party in Bhutan to do so. On 1 September 2007 the Election Commission of Bhutan registered the party. The PDP tends to be more popular in the west of the country.
The party presented candidates for the
2008 National Assembly election in all 47 constituencies. The party won only two of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
's 47 seats, and just under one third of the votes cast. The only other party that registered for the election, the
Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, gained 45 seats and just over two thirds of the votes. The People's Democratic Party's president,
Sangay Ngedup, failed to win the seat in his own
constituency
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
.
"Bhutan votes for status quo"
, France 24
France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market.
Based in the Paris suburb ...
, 24 March 2008.
In the 2013 elections, the party won 32 seats with 54.88% of the votes.
PDP's election victory is attributed to its comprehensive campaign promises. The campaign promise focused on improving the country's economy which has recorded a real GDP growth rate of 2%, the lowest in the recent 20 years. Confidence in the economy was at its weakest with rupee
Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of
Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...
shortages, raising debt, loans being stopped by financial institutions and corruption having become a major concern.
The party came in 3rd place in the 2018 first-round primary elections, thus losing all its seats.
Election results
National Assembly
See also
* List of political parties in Bhutan
* 2013 Bhutanese National Assembly election
Notes
External links
People's Democratic Party websitePDP President's website
{{Bhutanese political parties
Political parties in Bhutan
Political parties established in 2007
Liberal parties in Asia
Progressive parties
Monarchist parties