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A woman wants to make it in Bhutan election

— PHOTO: AP

An election official shows an electronic voting machine to be used in the upcoming polls, in Thimpu, Bhutan, on Wednesday.

Thimpu: She’s just 29, a greenhorn in politics and is up against an experienced former Minister in the race to a seat in Bhutan’s National Assembly.

But Karma Lhamo is unfazed by these odds and exudes confidence of turning the tables on her rival. Ms. Lhamo of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) is pitted against Jigme Singay of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), a former Health Minister who boasts of 28 years of political experience, in the battle for Mongar constituency which consists of five blocks — Chali, Drepong, Mongar, Tsamang and Tshakaling.

People in Mongar, one of the most developed places in Bhutan, are like a closely-knit rural family where everyone seems to know every other. And now the people are undecided as to what to choose — the freshness of Ms. Lhamo or Mr. Singay’s experience.

Bhutan will elect 75 members to the National Assembly or the Lower House on March 24. Ms. Lhamo is being seen as a symbol of feminism for rural Bhutanese women. From the start of her campaign, she has embraced the idea that she might be the first woman to be elected as a NA member from Mongar. “I want to prove that a woman from a rural background can become somebody if she has the will and determination,” Ms. Lhamo said. “I want to prove the rural mass can rise above humble beginnings. This is my aim,” she says. Analysts feel she has tried to energise women, young and old, with her message. Women are seen flocking in droves to attend her meetings.

According to them, Ms. Lhamo’s strengths are her good communication skills and her twin personality of traditional femininity and modern career woman.

Observers say much of her confidence and support may stem from the fact that she is the daughter of the head priest of a monastery in Mongar. — PTI

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