Sangay Zam celebrates her victory with well wishers

30 January, 2008 - Thimphu Throm’s Sangay Zam won the National Council elections by more than a thousand votes despite the recent uproar among Thimphu voters over her statement during the candidates’ television debate.

The 43-year-old candidate led with 2,923 votes against Sangay Tshoki from Kawang gewog, who secured 1,821 votes.

Sangay Zam thanked her supporters and apologised for having been rash and careless in her choice of words during the live debate. According to observers, voters, especially those in Babesa, protested against Sangay Zam’s statement during the debate on how people of Thimphu were selling their pha-zhi and living off it. “I just wanted to draw attention to the ethnic Thimphups who were getting marginalised because of the booming real estate business but it came out wrong,” she said. Observers reason that the candidate’s TV debate statement was a huge drain on her popularity.

However, the former principal of Gelephu higher secondary school, Sangay Zam, managed to maintain some support in that gewog. She secured 238 out of 376 votes cast at the polling station in Babesa school. “I am glad because I thought the voters in that polling station would not support me,” she said.

The NC election in the capital was decided by a mix of factors: luck, hardwork, family connections and interaction, according to an observer. Sangay Zam, who had served 23 years in the education ministry, had an edge having had a headstart in the elections. “I had almost three months and I went to all the villages at least thrice,” she said. “If my contestant had a headstart like me, she would have had as good a stand.”

Despite the limited familiarisation and campaign time, Sangay Tshoki, the 40 year-old candidate, still managed to garner good support especially in her own gewog, Kawang. About 72 percent of the voters in the two polling stations of Kawang gewog voted for Sangay Tshoki. Sangay Zam secured only 90 out of 331 votes cast. Sangay Tshoki, who was a teacher at the Dechenchholing middle secondary school in Thimphu, said that she would definitely contest in the next elections given the experience and lessons she gained from this election. “I am happy with my performance and with the support from my gewog,” she said.

But Sangay Zam had good support in Changangkha, Langjophakha, Zilukha and Motithang though she was more confident about the voters in Mewang gewog. “I voted for Sangay Zam because she seems more confident and capable,” said a voter in Zilukha polling station where Sangay Zam secured 265 out of 369 votes. A lot of Sangay Zam’s friends and relatives in Langjophakha added to her votes.

Thimphu experienced a low voter turn out with only about 49 percent of the 9,537 registered voters. 4,744 voted at its 25 polling centers. In Changbangdu polling station where about 1,226 voters were registered, only 475 turned up. According to an observer, most voters did not go to vote because their gewog did not have a candidate of their own. “Most people in Thimphu are out on vacation and that could also be a factor,” said Sangay Zam. 42 year-old Karma said she chose to stay at home to beat the coldoutside. Out of 150 postal ballots, 115 votes were in favour of Sangay Zam.

Electoral officials said the elections went on smooth although some voters turned up at the wrong polling stations and some were not reflected on the electoral list of a polling centre. A female voter in Zilukha told Kuensel that she spent three hours in queue and was later informed by the polling officer that she was not registered in that station. “The polling station on my card was Zilukha but officials said that my name was not registered on the roll,” she said.

After the results were announced last night, Sangay Zam said she would be meeting the Thimphu voters individually. “I am happy that I would be representing Thimphu where people’s expectations will be within my capacity and power,” she said.