National Council of Bhutan

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The National Council is the upper house of Bhutan's new bicameral Parliament which also comprises the Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) and the National Assembly. It is the subordinate house. 20 members of the first Council were elected in the first ever elections for the Council held on December 31, 2007 and January 29, 2008.

[edit] The members

The National Council consists of 25 members. 20 members are elected by the electorates of the 20 dzongkhags while 5 members are nominated by the Druk Gyalpo. The members can not belong to any political party and should have the minimum qualification of a graduation from a recognised University.

The members of the first National Council are generally young, many of them aged below 40. This is reportedly^[1] due to the fact that only persons holding a degree were allowed to be candidates, and that access to formal education is relatively recent in Bhutan.