Bhutan’s opposition People’s Democratic Party appears to have won an upset victory in parliamentary elections Saturday. The country’s Election Commission says on its website that the party has won at least 31 of the 47 seats being contested in the vote for parliament, while the incumbent Peace and Prosperity Party won at least 14 seats. Election Commission officials will announce the official results on Sunday. The PDP needed 24 of the 47 seats to form the next government.
Fewer than 400,000 people were eligible to vote in the elections.The vote secures a new democratically-elected government for only the second time in the history of the land-locked Buddhist nation.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk voluntarily ceded absolute power in 2008 and introduced democracy.
Source: Bhutan Opposition Party Secures Upset Victory in Elections.