There is a bit confusion with regard to Primary round of the National Assembly Election of Bhutan 2013, in particularly how two parties will go on to participate in the general elections. Some say it is the number of votes a party gets in the Primary round that will determine whether they go to the General round, other say it is the number of seats from 47 constituencies a party wins. Apparently it seems it will go by the former system although it is not very clear to the public.
People vote on party symbols and two parties securing the highest number and next highest number of the total votes will go on to participate in the general election. In this case a wining party may have less wining constituencies then a losing party because number of registered voters differs from constituency to constituency. This has an implication to both the candidates and the party. A political party needs to focus on constituencies and Dzongkhags with a higher number of registered voters, such as Trashigang (44,167 eligible voters) and Samtse (42,334 eligible voters); and less focus on Dzongkhags such as Haa (7,520 eligible voters) and Gasa (1,835 eligible voters). Parties must ensure that they have strong candidates from these constituencies.
The other issue seems to be around allowing candidates to change parties with permission from their respective parties after the primary election. As pointed out in a forum discussion, this opportunity of allowing aspirant members to join other party if they lose in the primary round will be a big blow to a party. For example, after the primary election candidates from the minority parties may join the party with the second highest number of votes and this will topple the party with the highest votes in the primary round. Therefore, politic is not only about winning the votes but it is also being able to play a game.