A woman voter casts her vote at a polling station for general elections in Thimphu, Bhutan, on Jan 9, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

KATHMANDU - The People's Democratic Party led by former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay has won Bhutan's general elections, results released by the Election Commission of Bhutan showed on Wednesday.

During the final round of the National Assembly elections held on Tuesday, the PDP secured 30 seats while the Bhutan Tendrel Party took the remaining 17 seats, results showed.

After winning the first round of voting in November 2023, the PDP and BTP contested Tuesday's vote across all 47 constituencies in the Himalayan kingdom. A party has to win at least 24 constituencies to form a government.

According to data from the Bhutan Broadcasting Service website, the BTP took the lead in most seats in eastern Bhutan, while the PDP garnered the most seats in western, southern and central Bhutan.

According to data from the Bhutan Broadcasting Service website, the Bhutan Tendrel Party took the lead in most seats in eastern Bhutan, while the People's Democratic Party garnered the most seats in western, southern and central Bhutan

The BTP was founded in 2022 and is led by Pema Chewang, former secretary of the National Land Commission. The PDP was formed in 2007 by Tobgay, who led the government after the elections in 2013.

During the campaign, Tobgay vowed to promote the investment needed to boost the country's $3 billion economy and address the unemployment that is driving an increasing number of young Bhutanese abroad, mainly to Australia, in search of better opportunities.

Both the previous government's lawmakers and their former opposition were knocked out in the primary round.

ALSO READ: Voters start casting ballots in final round of Bhutan elections

Voters cast their ballots at 812 polling stations across the country from 8 am (0200 GMT) to 5 pm (1100 GMT) on Tuesday, with people queuing up in freezing temperatures in the mountainous country.

Polling officials unseal an electronic voting machine to count votes after general election in Deothang, Bhutan, on Jan 9, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

There were a total of 498,135 registered voters in the nation's fourth parliamentary elections, including 117,114 postal ballot voters, or 23.5 percent of the total registered voters, BBS data showed.

READ MORE: Bhutan votes in preliminary round of national elections

Bhutan, a landlocked country with a population of around 800,000, held elections for the first time in 2008 after political reforms established a bicameral parliament soon after the start of the reign of present King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

With Reuters inputs