National Council (Bhutan)

National Council

རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཚོགས་སྡེ་
Gyelyong Tshogde
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Chairperson
Sangay Dorji
since 10 May 2023
Structure
Seats25
Political groups
  Non-partisan (20)
  Appointed (5)
Length of term
5 years
Elections
20 seats by first-past-the-post, 5 nominated by the Druk Gyalpo
Last election
20 April 2023
Meeting place
Gyelyong Tshokhang, Thimphu
Website
Official Website of the National Council of Bhutan

The National Council is the upper house of Bhutan's bicameral Parliament, which also comprises the Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) and the National Assembly.

While sharing similarities to the Rajya Sabha of neighbouring India and the upper houses of other bicameral Westminster-style parliaments, it cannot author monetary or budget-related bills, differing from others, its twenty Members are elected by the people of the twenty districts in a multi-layered election process with each block electing a nominee for the final district level elections. Besides creating and reviewing Bhutanese legislation, the National Council acts as the house of review on matters affecting the security, sovereignty, or interests of Bhutan that need to be brought to the notice of the Druk Gyalpo, the Prime Minister and the National Assembly. Twenty members of the first Council were elected in the first ever elections for the Council held on December 31, 2007 and January 29, 2008.