A voter prepares to cast his ballot. Picture by Biplab Basak

Phuentsholing, May 28: The second phase of the mock polls conducted by the election commission of Bhutan passed off peacefully today amid tight security.

The security beef-up across the country followed bomb threats by the Bhutan Tiger Force and the Bhutan Communist Party.

The Yellow Party (which aims at preservation of tradition and culture) and the Red Party (that stands for industry-led development) were the contenders for the 47 constituencies that make up the Bhutanese legislature. Counting of votes at the end of the day threw up a near unanimous verdict for the Yellow Party. The Red Party, in fact, had to be satisfied with the Bartsham-Songphu constituency only.

There were mixed reactions among the electorate who queued up to cast their votes in the electronic voting machines since 9 am. “We were fine under the rule of our king and democracy is something we are still not familiar with,” said Biki, a young voter at a booth here.

“Though the voting process is new to us, the citizens of our country have shown how peaceful and orderly they can be,” said Kezang Samdrup, the election observer for Phuentsholing.

Chief election commissioner, Kunzang Wangdi, speaking over phone from Thimpu, said he was happy that the voting passed off peacefully.