Lyonchhen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley was born in Bhutan in 1952. He graduated with a BA (Honours) degree from St. Stephen’s College of Delhi University. He later went on to obtain a Masters degree in Public Administration from Pennsylvania State University.
The Honourable Lyonchhen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley is the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Bhutan. As the founding President of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), he led his party to a landslide victory in Bhutan’s first ever national elections held in March 2008, winning 45 out of a total of 47 seats.
Prior to the introduction of democracy in Bhutan, he served the previous government in various important capacities, including as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Home and Cultural Affairs.
Lyonchhen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley has published many essays and papers on a wide range of topics and has spoken at many conferences, meetings and seminars including numerous times at the United Nations General Assembly. He is a strong advocate of the philosophy of Gross National Happiness, which is an alternative development model conceived by His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan, and he regularly speaks on the subject at both the national and international levels.
Lyonchhen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley is also committed to conservation of environment. He has been promoting ecoliteracy throughout the schools in Bhutan, and has been able to obtain a commitment from the heads of every school in Bhutan that they will become “zero waste green schools”. Lyonchhen is presently the Chairman of the National Environment Commission, as also the Chairman of the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute of Conservation and Environment (UWICE). Amongst the various awards received by him, Lyonchhen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley was conferred the Druk Wangyel Medal which is the highest civilian decoration, by His Majesty the Fifth King of Bhutan in 2009.