December 11: The Chief Election Commissioner Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said nobody can deny the existence of corruption. Corruption is prevalent in the Kingdom he said.

He was speaking at the function to mark the International Anti-Corruption day. To mark the occasion, the chief election commissioner launched the annual calendar and annual bulletin of the Anti-Corruption
Commission of Bhutan.

Officials from high court, Anti-Corruption Commission, representatives from the two political parties and journalists from the media organizations were present during the launch.

In the opening remarks, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said everybody must help fight corruption. He said they should reject, resist, and report corruption.

He said with the democratization process and party politics, there have been reports of political parties forcing the people to become party members, seeking assurance from the people that they will vote for the party, allegations of bribery, and political parties and candidates paying the membership fees on behalf of the people.

Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said the Election Commission is investigating all the reports they have received and assured the gathering that they are not ignoring the issues.

He said the most important and urgent issues are being investigated in the Dzongkhags. He said for democracy to be successful, it is of paramount importance that the election is conducted in a free and fair manner.