National Assembly (Bhutan)

27°29′23.2″N 89°38′17.5″E / 27.489778°N 89.638194°E / 27.489778; 89.638194

The National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Bhutan, and is responsible for enacting laws, representing the people, and overseeing the government. It consists of 47 members elected from 47 constituencies across the country.

Under the 2008 Constitution, Article 12, section 1, the National Assembly consists of a maximum of 55 members directly elected by the citizens of constituencies within each Dzongkhag (District). Under this single-winner voting system, each constituency is represented by a single National Assembly member; each of the 20 Dzongkhags must be represented by between 2–7 members. Constituencies are reapportioned every 10 years (Art. 12, § 2). The National Assembly meets at least twice a year (Art. 12, § 5), and elects a Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its members (Art. 12, § 3). Members and candidates are allowed to hold political party affiliation.

The 2013 National Assembly election resulted in large increase in percentage of PDP members, who held 32 seats to the DPT's 15 when the new assembly was convened.

In the 2018 National Assembly election, PDP did not qualify for the elections. DNT saw a rise of 30 seats, thus becoming the majority party in the Assembly. DPT, which won 17 seats, became the opposition.

In the 2023–24 Bhutanese National Assembly election, both incumbent parliamentary parties failed to win seats. PDP returned as the majority party, while the new BTP became the opposition.