Six ministers resign to join politics

Thimphu, July 26: Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk and five of his followers, all ministers, have resigned from the post of ministers on Thursday to join political party to contest in the general election scheduled for early next year.

Wangchuk and other ministers jointly met and submitted their resignation to the King on Thursday morning expressing their desire to join politics.

After the resignation of Wangchuk, Minister of Works and Human Settlement Kinzang Dorji has been designated as new prime minister.  A caretaker government will be formed in August to run the country until the elections.

Other ministers resigning from their positions include Jigme Y. Thinley, Yeshey Zimba, Wangdi Norbu and Ugyen Tshering, who had announced the formation of Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) party recently.

In the mean time, unconfirmed reports say Jigme Y. Thinley transferred his census record from Punakha to Chungkhar of Pema Gastel. There had been tussle between Thinley and Sangey Ngedup to secure their seat in the new parliament. Both of these ministers come from same constituency in Punakha and are probable candidates to lead two major parties – People's Democratic Party (PDP) and DPT. These are only the parties that many take part in the upcoming elections. A third party, Bhutan National Party (BNP), did not make any existence though its formation was announced. Bhutan News Service