The second and final round of Bhutan’s National Assembly elections will be held on July 13. The election will be contested by the winner and runner up of the first round of elections held in May, the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the Head of State. The council of ministers (Lhengye Zhungtshog), headed by the Prime Minister, exercise the executive power.
India and Bhutan share close bilateral, commercial, and cultural ties. In 2011-2012, bilateral trade between the two sides stood at $430 million. The institutional cooperation between the Elections Commissions of the two countries was formalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2006. India has provided Bhutan with approximately 2000 electronic voting machines for the current election. Furthermore, Indian Chief Election Commissioner V. S. Sampath is in Bhutan as an observer for this election.