Print — cabinet-of-bhutan-tshering-tobgay-2024 — BhutanWiki

The Cabinet of Bhutan under Tshering Tobgay, formally the Lhengye Zhungtshog, is the executive of the Royal Government of Bhutan inaugurated on 28 January 2024 following the victory of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) at the National Assembly general election held on 9 January 2024. It comprises the Prime Minister and nine ministers, the maximum permitted under Article 17 of the Constitution of 2008, and is the third Cabinet led by Tshering Tobgay's PDP — Tobgay having previously served as Prime Minister between 2013 and 2018.^[1][2]

The conferral of the dakyen (the sacred scarf of office) on the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the nine Cabinet Ministers was performed by the fifth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck at Tashichho Dzong on the morning of 28 January 2024.^[1]

The Tobgay Cabinet operates against the constitutional opposition of the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP), which holds 17 seats in the 47-member National Assembly to the PDP's 30. Its principal policy files are execution of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the legal and physical development of the Gelephu Mindfulness City Special Administrative Region, the post-LDC fiscal transition and the next-generation hydropower programme.

Composition

The Prime Minister and nine ministers, with portfolios as conferred on 28 January 2024, are listed below.^[1]

Office	Holder
Prime Minister	Dasho Tshering Tobgay
Minister for Finance	Lekey Dorji
Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade	D. N. Dhungyel
Minister for Home Affairs	Tshering
Minister for Health	Tandin Wangchuk
Minister for Education and Skills Development	Dimple Thapa
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Employment	Namgyal Dorji
Minister for Agriculture and Livestock	Younten Phuntsho
Minister for Energy and Natural Resources	Gem Tshering
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport	Chandra Bahadur Gurung

The Speaker of the National Assembly, elected on 25 January 2024 prior to the cabinet's swearing-in, is Lungten Dorji.^[1][3]

Constitutional framework

Article 17 of the Constitution caps the size of the Cabinet at the Prime Minister and ten other ministers, all drawn from the National Assembly. The Tobgay Cabinet operates one seat below the cap. Ministers are appointed by the Druk Gyalpo on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the National Assembly and meets weekly under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister; minutes are not made public, but the agenda and key decisions are released through the Cabinet Secretariat at Tashichho Dzong.^[2][3]

Election context

The fourth National Assembly election was held in two rounds: a primary round on 30 November 2023, in which five registered parties competed, and a general round on 9 January 2024 between the two top-finishing parties, the PDP and the BTP. The PDP won 30 of the 47 constituencies; the BTP won 17. Voter turnout in the general round was 65.6 per cent. The result returned Tobgay's PDP to government for the second time, having previously held office between 2013 and 2018.^[4][5]

Policy agenda

Thirteenth Five-Year Plan

The 13th Five-Year Plan (2024–2029), prepared under the previous DNT government and adopted under the new Cabinet, runs to a total outlay of approximately Nu 512 billion and emphasises high-economic-growth pathways, digital transformation, hydropower expansion and Gelephu Mindfulness City as the principal investment vehicle. The Cabinet's first 100-day priorities, announced in February 2024, included rupee-reserve management, public-debt sustainability, civil-service reform and acceleration of stalled hydropower projects.^[6]

Gelephu Mindfulness City

The Cabinet inherited the Gelephu Mindfulness City Special Administrative Region project, established by Royal Charter on 13 February 2024 — sixteen days after the Cabinet's swearing-in. The project envisages a 2,500-square-kilometre special administrative zone in southern Bhutan with its own governance and law framework, anchored by a hydropower-led economic development model. The Tobgay Cabinet has been the principal political actor in the project's implementation phase, working with the GMC governance board and the Druk Holding and Investments group.^[6][7]

Hydropower

The hydropower file includes the completion of long-delayed Punatsangchhu I, the operational Punatsangchhu II and Mangdechhu stations, and the next-generation Kuri-Gongri and Sunkosh schemes. The Cabinet's Energy Minister Gem Tshering led negotiations through 2024–2025 with the Indian Ministry of Power on financing arrangements for the new generation, with the Dorjilung 1,125 MW project moving to construction phase in mid-2025.^[6]

Post-LDC graduation

Bhutan formally graduated from least developed country status on 13 December 2023, weeks before the Cabinet took office. Managing the loss of LDC-specific concessional trade and donor arrangements, particularly the European Union's Everything But Arms preferences, has been a continuing file for the Finance Ministry under Lekey Dorji.^[6]

Cabinet committees and working practice

The Cabinet operates a set of standing committees including a Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, a Committee on National Security and a Committee on Legislative Affairs. Weekly Cabinet meetings are held on Tuesdays at the Cabinet Secretariat, with extraordinary meetings convened on twenty-four hours' notice. Press briefings are issued through the Information and Communications office of the Prime Minister's Office.

Cabinet of Bhutan (Tshering Tobgay government, 2024–present)