| People's Democratic Party | |
| Native Name Lang: | dz |
| Abbreviation: | PDP |
| Logo Upright: | 0.67 |
| President: | Tshering Tobgay[1] |
| Founders: | Sangay Ngedup Tshering Tobgay |
| Ideology: | Royalism Liberalism Progressivism[2] |
| Headquarters: | Drizang Lam, Lower Motithang, Thimphu |
| Position: | Centre to centre-left |
| Seats1 Title: | Seats in the National Assembly |
| Country: | Bhutan |
| Symbol: | Galloping White Horse |
The People's Democratic Party (Dzongkha: མི་སེར་དམངས་གཙོའི་ཚོགས་པ།; Wylie: mi-ser dmangs-gtsoi tshogs-pa; PDP) is one of the major political parties in Bhutan, formed on 24 March 2007. The founder president of this party is Sangay Ngedup, the former prime minister and agriculture minister of the Royal Government of Bhutan. The current leader of the party is Tshering Tobgay. The People's Democratic Party submitted its application for registration on 6 August 2007 and thus became the first political party in Bhutan to do so. On 1 September 2007 the Election Commission of Bhutan registered the party.[3] The PDP tends to be more popular in the west of the country.[4]
The party presented candidates for the 2008 National Assembly election in all 47 constituencies.[5] The party won only two of the National Assembly's 47 seats, and just under one third of the votes cast. The only other party that registered for the election, the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, gained 45 seats and just over two thirds of the votes. The People's Democratic Party's president, Sangay Ngedup, failed to win the seat in his own constituency.[6]
In the 2013 elections, the party won 32 seats with 54.88% of the votes.
PDP's election victory is attributed to its comprehensive campaign promises. The campaign promise focused on improving the country's economy which has recorded a real GDP growth rate of 2%, the lowest in the recent 20 years. Confidence in the economy was at its weakest with rupee shortages, raising debt, loans being stopped by financial institutions and corruption having become a major concern.
The party came in 3rd place in the 2018 first-round primary elections, thus losing all its seats.
| Election | First round | Second round | Seats | +/– | Outcome | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||
| 2008 | 83,322 | 32.96% | New | ||||
| 2013 | 68,650 | 32.53% | 138,760 | 54.88% | 30 | ||
| 2018 | 79,883 | 27.44% | 32 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 133,217 | 42.54% | 179,652 | 54.98% | 30 | ||