The Government of Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy since 18 July 2008. The King of Bhutan is the head of state. The executive power is exercised by the Lhengye Zhungtshog, or council of ministers, headed by the Prime Minister. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Parliament, both the upper house, National Council, and the lower house, National Assembly. A royal edict issued on April 22, 2007 lifted the previous ban on political parties in anticipation of the National Assembly elections in the following year. In 2008, Bhutan adopted its first modern Constitution, codifying the institutions of government and the legal framework for a democratic multi-party system.
Trashigang District is Bhutan's easternmost dzongkhag (district).
The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts. Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia.
Chukha District is one of the 20 dzongkhag (districts) comprising Bhutan. The major town is Phuentsholing.
Elections in Bhutan are conducted at national (Parliamentary) and local levels. Suffrage is universal for citizens 18 and over, and under applicable election laws. In national elections, also known as the general elections, political party participation is mainly restricted to the lower house of Parliament, and by extension, to the executive nominated by its majority
A gewog, in the past also spelled as geog, is a group of villages in Bhutan. The head of a gewog is called a gup. Gewogs form a geographic administrative unit below dzongkhag districts, and above Dzongkhag Thromde class B and Yenlag Thromde municipalities. Dzongkhag Thromde class A municipalities have their own independent local government body.
The development of Bhutanese democracy has been marked by the active encouragement and participation of reigning Bhutanese monarchs since the 1950s, beginning with legal reforms such as the abolition of slavery, and culminating in the enactment of Bhutan's Constitution. The first democratic elections in Bhutan began in 2007, and all levels of government had been democratically elected by 2011. These elections included Bhutan's first ever partisan National Assembly election. Democratization in Bhutan has been marred somewhat by the intervening large-scale expulsion and flight of Bhutanese refugees during the 1990s; the subject remains somewhat taboo in Bhutanese politics. Bhutan was ranked 13th most electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.535 out of 1.
The National Assembly is the elected lower house of Bhutan's bicameral Parliament which also comprises the Druk Gyalpo and the National Council.
The Parliament of Bhutan consists of the King of Bhutan together with a bicameral parliament. This bicameral parliament is made up of an upper house, the National Council and a lower house, the National Assembly. The current parliamentary framework replaced the unicameral Tshogdu in 2007, with the first members taking seats in 2008.
Getena Gewog is a gewog of Chukha District, Bhutan. The 214-km² gewog contains 7 villages and 118 households.
Dungna Gewog is a gewog of Chukha District, Bhutan. The 165.4-km² gewog contains 9 villages.
Metakha Gewog is a gewog of Chukha District, Bhutan. Metakha Gewog was established in 2016, and it is one of the smallest gewogs in Chukka Dzongkhag. The 100-km² gewog contains fifteen villages, 119 households and has a population of 1,036.
Phuentsholing Gewog is a gewog of Chukha District, Bhutan. The gewog has an area of 139.8 km2 and contains 19 villages and a population of 5,183, as of 2005. Phuentsholing Gewog is part of Phuentsholing Dungkhag, along with Dala, Logchina Gewogs and Shampheling Gewog. It is one of the most populated gewogs in Chukha Dzongkhag.
The Constitution of Kingdom of Bhutan was enacted 18 July 2008 by the Royal Government of Bhutan. The Constitution was thoroughly planned by several government officers and agencies over a period of almost seven years amid increasing democratic reforms in Bhutan. The current Constitution is based on Buddhist philosophy, international Conventions on Human Rights, comparative analysis of 20 other modern constitutions, public opinion, and existing laws, authorities, and precedents. According to Princess Sonam Wangchuck, the constitutional committee was particularly influenced by the Constitution of South Africa because of its strong protection of human rights.
Kangpar Gewog is a gewog of Trashigang District, Bhutan. Kangpara Gewog, along with Thrimshing Gewog, comprises Thrimshing Dungkhag (sub-district). Kangpara is one of the remotest gewogs under Trashigang Dzongkhag (district). The gewog is 341.9 square kilometers and shares borders with other gewogs like Gomdar, Thrimshing, Shongphu, Khaling, Shingkhar Lauri and Merak. Kangpara is popular for housing some sacred monasteries like Lamai Goenpa, Sikhar Goenpa et al., and is also popular for their belief in deities like Ama Jomo and Meme Dangling.
National Council elections were held in Bhutan on 23 April 2013. All candidates ran as independents, as National Council members were prohibited from belonging to a political party.
The Local Government Act of Bhutan was enacted on September 11, 2009, by parliament of Bhutan in order to further implement its program of decentralization and devolution of power and authority. It is the most recent reform of the law on Bhutan's administrative divisions: Dzongkhags, Dungkhags, Gewogs, Chiwogs, and Thromdes (municipalities). The Local Government Act of Bhutan has been slightly amended in 2014.
A Thromde is a second-level administrative division in Bhutan. The legal administrative status of thromdes was most recently codified under the Local Government Act of 2009, and the role of thromdes in elections in Bhutan was defined in the Election Act of 2008.
The Bhutanese local government elections of 2011 were originally slated for 2008, but were delayed until 2011. Elections began on January 20, 2011, however polls opened in only 3 of 20 districts – Thimphu, Chukha District (Phuentsholing), and Samdrup Jongkhar – as part of a staggered election schedule. Polls closed June 27, 2011. Ahead of elections, 1,042 chiwogs, the basis of Bhutan's single-constituency electoral scheme, were slated to elect the leadership of Dzongkhag, Gewog, and Thromde governments.
