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Bhutan Politics - Elections |
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Bhutan Politics |
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Raising
awareness on the electoral process is crucial for Bhutan |
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Bhutan gears up for its first-nation-wide elections in 2008, ensuring people's
understanding of the electoral process is key to the smooth transition
to parliamentary democracy. In line with this, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) will be supporting the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB)
in conducting free and fair elections. This will be done through a two-year
project, which aims to contribute towards enhanced national capacity through
supporting institutional and human capacity building of ECB and creating
greater awareness and understanding of the electoral process among voters
particularly women, youth, illiterates and people in remote areas. |
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People's
understanding of the electoral process is seen as a key element in ensuring
a smooth transition to parliamentary democracy. An agreement to this effect
was signed on Tuesday, 27 January 2007 in Thimphu between the Royal Government
of Bhutan and the UNDP.
The
project has a total budget of USD 400,000, with USD 150,000 of the total
budget being funded from UNDP's Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund
(DGTTF). The Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF) was established
in 2001 as a new instrument providing UNDP with additional (non core) resources
to address development priorities in Democratic Governance.
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project comprises of two main elements. The newly established ECB will
need to be further strengthened in order to carry out their responsibilities.
Therefore, the project aims to enhance the institutional and human capacity
of the Election Commission. This will be done through training of electoral
officers, staff and relevant persons in election management and by supporting
procurement of office and electoral equipment, and printing and dissemination
of various documents.
As
parliamentary election is a new experience for the country, the ECB has
an enormous task of informing, educating, and training women and men on
the electoral process throughout the country. The ECB has accordingly formulated
the Bhutan Electoral Education and Training Strategy (BEETS) and is currently
implementing the strategy. The ECB is also in the process of preparing
a comprehensive National Electoral Roll (NER), which is a key component
of electoral process. |
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| Source:
UNDP Bhutan - United Nations Development Programme,
February 2007 |
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