Sangay Ngedup | |
---|---|
3rd Prime Minister of Bhutan | |
In office 5 September 2005 – 7 September 2006 |
|
Monarch | Jigme Singye |
Preceded by | Yeshey Zimba |
Succeeded by | Khandu Wangchuk |
In office 9 July 1999 – 20 July 2000 |
|
Monarch | Jigme Singye |
Preceded by | Jigme Thinley |
Succeeded by | Yeshey Zimba |
Personal details | |
Born |
Punakha, Bhutan |
1 July 1953
Political party | People's Democratic Party |
Religion | Buddhism |
Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup (born 1 July 1953) was Prime Minister of Bhutan from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2006.
Sangay Ngedup was born in Nobgang village in Punakha. He is the second eldest son in a family of two brothers and five sisters. Four of his sisters are married to the former king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. He graduated from Dr Graham's Homes in Kalimpong, India, and completed his tertiary education at St. Stephen's College in Delhi, India. In 1976 he joined the Bhutanese foreign service, and attended diplomatic courses in Australia and New Delhi.
In 1977, Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup served at the permanent mission of Bhutan to the United Nations in New York and later as second (and later first) secretary in the Royal Bhutan Embassy in New Delhi. In 1989, Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup was appointed as Ambassador to Kuwait.
He was transferred as the Director of Trade and Industry in 1989 and then as the joint secretary of the Planning Commission in April 1991. He became the Director General of Health in 1992. In 1998 he became Minister of Health and Education, and he served as Prime Minister from July 9, 1999 until July 20, 2000. He was Minister of Agriculture from 2003 to 2007, and on September 5, 2005 was appointed as Prime Minister again, serving until September 7, 2006. In July 2007 he resigned from the government, together with Prime Minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk and five other ministers, to enter politics and prepare for the country's first ever democratic election in 2008.Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, whose demonstrated leadership style is democratic, was unanimously elected as president and leader of the newly constituted People's Democratic Party.
In his presidential debate, the first ever held in February 2008, Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup has promised that, if he wins the election, he would base his policies of governing on Gross National Happiness (GNH), a philosophy (coined by the fourth king Jigme Singye Wangchuck) that states that happiness is more important than material growth for the people.