Democracy in Bhutan

Speaker Bio

Tshering Tobgay is a Bhutanese politician who has been Prime Minister of Bhutan since 2013. He is also leader of the People’s Democratic Party and was Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly from March 2008 to April 2013. Tobgay co-founded the People’s Democratic Party and was responsible for establishing the Party as Bhutan’s first registered political party. Prior to politics, Tobgay was a civil servant, beginning his career in 1991 with the Technical and Vocational Education Section under the Department of Education. In 1998 he established and headed the National Technical Training Authority and served as a director in the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources from 2003 to 2007.

Tobgay received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering in 1990 and later received a master’s in public administration from Harvard University in 2004. He received his secondary schooling in India, at Dr. Graham’s Homes School in the city of Kalimpong, near Darjeeling, in the eastern Himalayas.

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