Bhutan witnessed a significant democratic exercise on Thursday as voters cast their ballots in primary polls, determining the top two political parties poised to engage in the upcoming fourth-ever general election in the nation’s history. Residents from remote corners of the mountainous kingdom embarked on journeys to partake in this crucial process, choosing from five participating parties. The leading two parties emerging from these primaries will contend in the general election scheduled for January 9. Since the initiation of political reforms under the present king’s reign, Bhutanese citizens first exercised their voting rights in 2008. The reigning monarch, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, remains widely popular among the nearly 800,000 people in the predominantly Buddhist nation.
