Tshering Tobgay
Tshering Tobgay | |
|---|---|
ཚེ་རིང་སྟོབས་རྒྱས། | |
 Official portrait, 2013 | |
| 7thPrime Minister of Bhutan | |
| Assumed office 28 January 2024 | |
| Monarch | Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck |
| Preceded by | Chogyal Dago Rigdzin(as Chief Advisor) |
| In office 27 July 2013 – 9 August 2018 | |
| Monarch | Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck |
| Preceded by | Sonam Tobgye(as Chief Advisor) |
| Succeeded by | Tshering Wangchuk(as Chief Advisor) Lotay Tshering |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 September 1965 Haa,Bhutan |
| Political party | People's Democratic Party(1991–present) |
| Spouse |
Tashi Dolma (m.1998) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh (BS) Harvard University (MPA) |
Tshering Tobgay(Dzongkha:ཚེ་རིང་སྟོབས་རྒྱས།;born 19 September 1965) is aBhutanesepolitician, environmentalist, and cultural advocate who is thePrime Minister of Bhutansince 28 January 2024 and also served in office from July 2013 to August 2018. Tobgay is the leader of thePeople's Democratic Party,[1]and was also the Leader of the Opposition in theNational Assemblyfrom March 2008 to April 2013.
Early life and education[edit]
Tobgay was born into a family of six brothers.[2]Both of his parents helped develop the country of Bhutan. Tobgay's father was one of the first soldiers of theRoyal Bhutan Army,while his mother participated in the construction of the first road connectingBhutantoIndia.[3]
Tobgay attended secondary schooling at theDr. Graham's HomesSchool inKalimpong,India, in the easternHimalayas.
In 1990, Tobgay received aBachelor of Sciencein mechanical engineering from theUniversity of Pittsburgh'sSwanson School of Engineeringafter obtaining a scholarship from theUnited Nations.[4]Tobgay also completed a master's degree in public administration from theJohn F. Kennedy School of GovernmentatHarvard Universityin 2004.[5]
Personal life[edit]
Tobgay married Tashi Doma[6][7]in 1998, and has two children.[8]He is an avidcyclistand enjoys fitness, gym and yoga.[9][10]
Career[edit]
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Tobgay was a civil servant before he engaged in politics. He started his career in 1991 with the Technical and Vocational Education Section (TVES) of the Education Division in Bhutan. After his stint with the TVES from 1991 to 1999, Tobgay created and led the National Technical Training Authority (NTTA) from 1999 to 2003.
Tobgay also served from 2003 to 2007 in theMinistry of Labour and Human Resourcesas the director of the Human Resources department. Tobgay resigned from the Ministry of Labour in February 2007 and entered politics to serve his duties for thereigning king,who established democracy in 2008. After the election in 2013, Tobgay became the Prime Minister of Bhutan through a secret ballot.[citation needed]
Politics[edit]
Tobgay was a co-founder member of thePeople's Democratic Partyand was responsible for establishing the Party as Bhutan's first registered political party. At the2008 election,the PDP only obtained two seats, with Tobgay winning one of the seats. In 2009, the PDP's leaderSangay Ngedupresigned from his position, and Tobgay took over as the party's leader. After the2013 election,Tobgay was elected as Prime Minister of Bhutan by asecret ballot.
AfterPeople's Democratic Party (Bhutan)won 30 seats (out of 47) in the 2024 general election, Tshering Tobgay is set to become Prime Minister again.
2013 campaign[edit]
During Tobgay's campaign in the 2013 election, Tobgay focused on improving Bhutan with small promises. Instead of following in his predecessor's footsteps and promoting theGross National Happiness,Tobgay pledged to give each village apower tiller,utility vehicles for each district and two national ambulance helicopters. Tobgay's election campaign focused on improving the economy which had then fallen to a record low of 2%. The campaign also promised strengthening the rural economy, reforming the education sector, and empowering local government.
Ideologies[edit]
Rather than simply promoting Gross National Happiness, Tobgay believes that the principles of GNH has to be implemented, and some of the important problems that need to be addressed are youth unemployment, corruption, and national debt. Tobgay also concentrates on stopping corruption in Bhutan's government, and interacting with the Bhutanese population. Human rights is also an ideology of Tobgay, however, he has not spoken publicly aboutLGBT rightsin Bhutan, where homosexual acts were formerly illegal, since an anti-gay law was imposed by British colonialists.[11]
Speeches[edit]
In 2015, Tobgay delivered a speech[12]at Vibrant Gujarat, inviting leading corporates from across the globe to participate in business with Bhutan.
At a 2015TEDtalk titled TEDxThimphu, Tobgay spoke about happiness and how common the theme of happiness was in other Ted Talks, including byNancy Etcoff,andSilver Donald Cameron.In his speech, Tobgay emphasized that having a sense of purpose, identity, and security is important to become happy.[13]
At a 2016 TED talk in Vancouver, Tobgay spoke about Bhutan's pledge to remaincarbon neutralforever. He shared his country's mission to put happiness before economic growth, and set a world standard for environmental preservation.[14]He spoke at theUN general assemblyin 2017, resonating Bhutan's environmental achievements, and the need of the world to unite to save the environment.[15]
On 9 January 2019, Tobgay spoke at theOxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)on the first ten years of democracy in Bhutan.[16]
In September 2019, Tobgay once again spoke at TED concerning the impacts of global warming on the world's "Third Pole" - the Hindu KushHimalayaregion. He speaks to a report stating two-thirds of the glaciers could be gone by the end of the century; having impacts on over 2 billion people living in the region and further downstream.[17]
Accolades[edit]
On 17 December 2014, theKing of Bhutanpresented Tobgay with the Lungmar Scarf for his efforts in the well-being of the nation while being Prime Minister of Bhutan.[18]
Honours[edit]
Bhutan:
The Royal Orange Scarf(16 June 2008).[19]
The Royal Red Scarf(17 December 2014).[18]
References[edit]
- ^"Opposition leader voices concerns".Kuensel.2 August 2008.Retrieved13 January2011.
- ^Peldek, Sonam."Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay".raonline.ch.Retrieved30 November2015.
- ^Ahmad, Omair."Experiments With Democracy in Bhutan".The New York Times.Retrieved27 November2015.
- ^Pelden, Sonam."Politician by chance, PM by choice".KunenselOnline.Retrieved27 November2015.
- ^"Prime Minister".cabinet.gov.bt.Retrieved25 November2015.
- ^Joseph, Jisha (15 September 2018)."Ex-Bhutan PM Carries Wife On His Back Reminding Us Of Monica & Chandler".Storypick.
- ^"Bhutan's PM Tobgay in Luxembourg - Diplomat magazine".24 September 2015.
- ^"Tshering Tobgay".thinkglobalschool.org.
- ^"Strava Cyclist Profile - Tshering T."Strava.
- ^"9 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Strava".14 June 2016.
- ^"Bhutan lawmaker says law criminalizing gays may go".Gay Star News.16 September 2013.
- ^ET Bureau (12 January 2015). "Vibrant Gujarat: Spotlight turns on Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay ".
- ^"TEDxThimphu - Tshering Tobgay - Happiness Matters".Tedxtalks.ted.com.Retrieved30 November2015.
- ^"Tshering Tobgay - This country isn't just carbon neutral — it's carbon negative".
- ^"YouTube".www.youtube.com.
- ^OPHIOxford (2019-01-09),Dasho Tshering Tobgay - The First Ten Years of Democracy: Reflections from Bhutan,retrieved2019-05-19
- ^"YouTube".www.youtube.com.
- ^ab"HM confers the first reinstituted Lungmar to PM".kuenselonline.com.Archived fromthe originalon 26 November 2015.Retrieved25 November2015.
- ^Bhutan Majestic TravelArchived2016-09-24 at theWayback Machine
External links[edit]
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