Fifty-four year old Nim Karma will contest for the upcoming National Council (NC) elections from Tsirang.
Nim Karma, a father of two, is the only candidate from Neymedsa village in Rangthangling gewog, Tsirang.
He has a Bachelors in Arts from Sherubtse College and an MBA from the University of Canberra, Australia.
Nim Karma worked 13 years in the civil service, five years with UNICEF and three years in the SAARC system before declaring his candidature for the council.
He also has about 12 years’ experience as a national consultant and have successfully provided over 30 consultancy assignment services to various government agencies and multi-lateral and bi-lateral development partners working in Bhutan.
Nim Karma said that he wants to contest for the NC because firstly, he feels as a responsible Bhutanese citizen it falls upon him to participate in the democratic parliamentary process and ensure its success, relevance and stability.
Secondly, he feels that he should offer the much needed variety in choices to the people of Tsirang to choose the most capable representative to the house of review.
“In view of the primacy of people’s participation as a cornerstone of our legislative process, I strongly feel that a more interactive process involving community and public consultation needs to be initiated to understand the issues and concerns the people face,” he said.
Nim Karma also contested as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate from Kilkhorthang Mendrelgang constituency in 2008.
Nim Karma hopes the people of Tsirang will elect the most capable and experienced candidate to shoulder the responsibilities entrusted by the constitution and not get swayed by narrow and divisive forces that can inevitably weaken the dzongkhag’s common development vision and Gross National Happiness ideals.
Meanwhile, he feels that the years of experience he has in various professions affords him a fair chance to be elected.
If elected, he said he will educate people on the legislature, parliamentary process and the collective role in nation-building.
Also, Nim Karma hopes to promote decentralization and people’s participation in a more pronounced and transparent manner at the grassroots.
Currently he is on a familiarization tour. So far, Tsirang Dzongkhag has 18 NC aspirants.
Dechen Dolkar from Thimphu
