Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party (BKP) founder and spokesperson Sonam Tobgay yesterday said the party has requested Dasho Neten Zangmo to reconsider her decision to step down as the party president.

The spokesperson in an interview with BBS said it was difficult for his party to find a person like Dasho Neten Zangmo. She is a former Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Sonam Tobgay said, “Within the BKP family, we have high respect for her and also have expectations from her.” He added that the party would work towards coming as a strong contender in the 2023 election to form the government that would fulfill people’s aspirations.

“We are requesting Dasho Neten to stay with us,” he said. The former ACC chairperson, according to BKP, is the biggest asset in the party.

A BKP office bearer said he was unaware of the party’s stand on the resignation tendered by Dasho Neten Zangmo.

Dasho Neten Zangmo tendered her resignation on September 16, the next day of the primaries although the party revealed her resignation letter on its Facebook page on November 5.   

She took the helm of BKP from Sonam Tobgay in May 2017 to boost the party’s chances in recently concluded parliamentary elections.

BKP received a total of 28,473 votes or 9.78 percent, which she described in her resignation letter as dismal.

“Its performance was consistently poor in all 47 constituencies without even a single victory,” she stated. She was the only party president who lost from her own constituency in the primary.

BKP will have to fight the next parliamentary election without campaign funds from the state, if it decides to contest again. A political party must receive at least 10 percent of the total popular votes cast in the primaries.

She states that she took the responsibility and accountability singularly as the party president for the poll debacle her party suffered.

In her resignation letter, she wrote, “Distrust, fear and divisiveness characterise our young democracy that is bankrupt of political morality. Hence, BKP embarked upon the challenging mission of redefining politics and politicians based on its view of incorruptibility, beyond five years and self independence.”

The BKP team, Dasho Neten Zangmo stated, worked tirelessly and selflessly without wavering from its mission despite the militating environment. She claimed that the BKP was able to instill a new political consciousness in the people and set the standard for political integrity.

MB Subba  

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