The local government elections are over. And the new gups – the heads of local governments – have started taking their charge throughout the country.
But a dozen gewogs still don’t have gups.
Goenshari in Punakha yielded a two-way tie. The election results in Bjabcho in Chukha was nullified as the winning candidate turned out to be overaged. And elections for Gongdue in Mongar could not be conducted as the lone candidate was disqualified for violating electoral laws.
So elections for Goenshari’s two candidates will be repeated. And elections will be conducted in Bjabcho and Gondue.
The remaining 9 gewogs don’t have gups yet, because the election results in these gewogs are being contested. And cases have been registered against the winning gups of these 9 gewogs.
I find one of these cases particularly disturbing. The winning gup of Tendu, Samtse has been alleged to have received help from an uncle who apparently is a DPT party worker.
If this is true, it is a flagrant violation of electoral laws. Local governments are nonpartisan. And political parties should not attempt to influence local governments in any way.
The Samtse dzongkhag court will, no doubt, hear the case carefully.
But because a political party has allegedly been involved, it may also make sense for the Election Commission to investigate the case separately.