The Winner
Jigmi Y Thinley, 56
President, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT)
Education: Did his schooling at Dr Graham’s Homes in Kalimpong and graduated from St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi (1974) before studying public administration at the Pennsylvania State University.
work profile: Thinley joined the Royal Government’s Home Ministry as a trainee and climbed his way up to become the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bhutan in the in the United Nations from 1988-89. He has also served as secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and as the Foreign Minister in the Royal Cabinet. Thinley had twice been Prime Minister in the Royal cabinet. He is all set to become the Prime Minister for a record third term. This time, of course, with a massive mandate from the people.
On the eve of the polls, in an interview to the Kuensel, the official Bhutanese media, Thinley had said if elected, one of his first tasks would be “fixing the fractures that the Bhutanese society has suffered in course of the elections.”
“I do not see myself opening champagnes. I see myself getting down to business. It is a huge responsibility,” Thinley told the media on the eve of Bhutan’s first National Assembly polls. As president of the DPT, he is expected to lead the country’s first democratically elected parliament for the next five years with a 10-member cabinet.
The winning combination for the DPT in the election might have been the perfect mix of professionalism and experience. Like the leader, the winners in Thinley’s team include a large number of professionals, former bureaucrats and ministers. The central theme of the party during poll campaign had been the pursuit of Gross National Happiness—a campaign launched by the current monarch’s father, His Majesty King Jigme Singhye Wangchuk, years ago. The King had propagated the philosophy that for the Bhutanese people happiness was far more important than GDP. The DPT built up its campaign on the theme and swept the polls.

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