Bhutan held its first general election on March 24, 2008. Voters chose between two parties, the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa and the People's Democratic Party. The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa party, considered the more royalist of the two, won 66.9% of the vote and 45 seats in parliament. Prior to the March 24, 2008 elections, Bhutan was ruled as an absolute monarchy.
Elected Prime Minister
The leader of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa party, Jigme Thinley, was sworn in as Bhutan's Prime Minister on April 9, 2008. He acted as Bhutan's appointed Prime Minister for two previous one-year terms in 1998-1999 and 2003-2004. In 1994, Thinley was appointed as Bhutan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and acted as Bhutan's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1998-2003.
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Fast Facts
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Fact:
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Fact:
The People's Democratic Party won 33.1% of the vote and 2 seats in parliament
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47 seats in the lower house of Bhutan's legislature were up for election
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The upper house of the legislature was elected on December 31, 2007 and January 29, 2008
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79.4% of registered Bhutanese voters took part in the election
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107,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin were prevented from voting in the election
