UN, Indian observers to oversee Bhutan's mock elections

Samdrup Jongkhar (Bhutan), April 19 Bhutan is all set for the first of the two rounds of mock parliamentary elections Saturday with the United Nations and India deputing observers to monitor the polls.

'Everything is in place from electronic voting machines to poll personnel for the dummy elections. Two teams of Indian Election Commission officials and also from the United Nations would be present as observers,' Dasho Kunzang Wangdi, Bhutan's chief election commissioner, told IANS over the phone from capital Thimphu.

The mock polls to be staged Saturday and May 28 are aimed at familiarising voters and officials about procedures ahead of the first general elections in 2008 when the kingdom shifts from monarchy to parliamentary democracy.

'We hope people would come forward to cast their votes. We have already placed about 10,000 polling officials, including security personnel, for the elections,' Wangdi said.

An estimated 400,000 voters in the Himalayan kingdom of about 600,000 people are eligible to exercise their franchise in 869 polling booths spread over 47 parliamentary constituencies.

'We have already distributed manifestoes for the elections in all the constituencies with four dummy political parties being given respective colours and symbols for the vote,' the commissioner said.

'The two parties which get the highest number of votes Saturday will go on to contest the final round.'

The parties are being named Druk (Thunder Dragon) Blue Party, Druk Green Party, Druk Red Party and Druk Yellow Party.

'Now people would vote for the parties in the primary round of elections Saturday. In the final round of polls May 28, people would vote for candidates of the two top parties that emerge victorious in the first round,' Wangdi said.

The official said candidates for the mock elections May 28 would be students from high schools.

'We shall choose two students for each of the 47 constituencies to represent the two top parties for the final round of vote,' Wangdi said.

Bhutanese voters are, however, circumspect about the elections.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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