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April 23rd, 2007, 01:56 PM
Bhutan is to do what the English did after Charles I was beheaded during the Civil War: get rid of Absolute Monarchy and embrace the democratic Constitutional Monarchy.......
Bhutan heads towards democracy
By Peter Foster in Paro
23/04/2007
The small English-speaking Buddhist nation of Bhutan, around 6 times smaller than Britain, is sandwiched between the giants of China and India. It is an Absolute Monarchy, but is to embrace Constitutional Monarchy with the Oxford University-educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck as King.
After 100 years of rule by absolute monarchy, the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is taking its first steps towards democracy.
Bhutanese woman casts her 'dummy' vote
The young Bhutanese woman emerged from the polling booth with a broad grin spread across her face. A few seconds earlier, with the touch of a button on an electronic voting machine, she had performed her part in a little piece of history.
Tshering Pelden, an 18-year-old student, was just one of more than 300,000 Bhutanese citizens to vote in a nationwide "dummy" election at the weekend, a practice run for a real general election this time next year when the king is succeeded by his son.
Even the loud beep emitted by the machines seemed to startle some voters, so alien is the concept of democracy to a people who for the last century have been happy to place their fate in the hands of a benevolent monarch.
So isolated was Bhutan - a pocket-sized Buddhist kingdom bordering Nepal - that when the first car arrived in the early 1960s, local reports said villagers tried to give it water to drink when they saw it parked on the side of the road.
However in the last 40 years, under the rule of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan has developed apace, building roads, schools and hospitals and raising life expectancy from 40 to 66 years.
Now democracy is to be added to that list of achievements, to the concern of many of Bhutan's people.
"It was very exciting," said Tshering Pelden of casting her first ever vote. "We want Bhutan to become developed like other countries, but we love our king and we are nervous about what democracy might bring."
The king, who last December abdicated in favour of his Oxford-educated son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 26, has had to work very hard to persuade his people of the wisdom ceding power to the people.
When the Bhutanese look across at their neighbours and see a rag-tag collection of failed monarchies, military dictatorships and highly corrupt bureaucracies, many - a majority according to a poll in a local newspaper - are less than convinced of the virtues of the democracy.
Flag of Bhutan
"I don't think life will be better under a democracy," says Tandin Tshering, the owner of a construction business in Paro after casting his vote, "until now His Majesty has looked after the interests of the people, but democracy will bring disagreement, corruption and strife."
Such reluctance is audible throughout the villages and towns of Bhutan. With the deadline for registering political parties set for July, only two parties have so far declared an interest in running, leading to Bhutan's chief election commissioner issuing a public appeal for the people to get more political.
One of those who has committed to politics, Tshering Tobgay, a former senior civil servant who resigned his job to help build the 'People's Democratic Party', said the problem was that the people were simply too content.
"This country has made enormous strides over the last 40 years and the people are happy with that progress. Now they are being given democracy without having to fight for it. In any other country it would be the other way round."
Outside the polling stations it was clear just how much work needs to be done to get Bhutan's softly-spoken and law-abiding citizenry to enter into the cut-and-thrust of democratic debate.
For the mock election four "dummy" parties, complete with manifestos were created - the Red [Druk] Dragon, Blue Dragon, Yellow Dragon and Green Dragon - with each one representing a different approach to shaping Bhutan's future.
Tshering Pelden, who voted alongside three generations of her family, said she had voted for the Blue Party which, according to the manifesto posted on the walls of the polling station, was for a "free and fair society".
Was this the idealism of youth? A socialist tendency, perhaps? "No," she replied, tugging at the sleeve of her kira, a traditional sarong-like dress. "Blue is my best colour. I didn't read the manifestos, I knew I liked blue."
As the voting progressed, everyone seemed to have a reason for picking a colour, but none had anything to do with politics. One farmer said he had voted for the Red (Industrial Development) party because it was the colour of his village god, Charuchen.
Another, a hotelier, preferred Green (Ecological Sustainability) on the advice of his astrologer while the Yellow Party (Traditional Values) seemed to be doing well on the basis that it shared its colour with a scarf often worn by the abbot of a local monastery.
But whatever the level of debate, the out-going king has decreed that his country will become a democracy and many senior Bhutanese figures are hoping the people will rise to the challenge when it comes next year.
"When the king introduced local elected village bodies in the 1980s and then a partially elected council of ministers in 1998, the people complained bitterly," said Mingbo Drukpa, the chief of Bhutan's Broadcasting Service.
"We are his like children and now he is asking us to grow up. We must trust the wisdom of his judgment. Some people may be worried today but when democracy begins to happen for real they will look back and realise the King was right."
Bhutan factbox
The royal Coat of Arms of Bhutan
After Bhutan embraces Constitutional Monarchy, the number of Constitutional Monarchies in the world will increase from 37 to 38. In total, 46 countries are Monarchies.
A land-locked nation of 18,146 sq miles Bhutan (pop. 650,000) takes its name, "Druk Yul" or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, from the Himalayas' violent electrical storms.
Bhutan's main languages are English and Dzongkha.
In 2008 Bhutan will adopt a bicameral democracy, consisting of a 47-member lower house and a 20-member revising chamber. The king will be a constitutional monarch, impeachable by a two-thirds majority vote.
In 1971 when Bhutan joined the United Nations, the then King articulated the idea of "Gross National Happiness", stressing sustainability, self-reliance and prosperity was a better measure of progress than simple "Gross National Product".
The Wangchuck Dynasty has ruled Bhutan since 1907. However the centenary year celebrations will not take place until 2008 because 2007 is considered to be a highly inauspicious year.
The national animal of Bhutan is strange-looking ungulate called a "Takin". According to local legend it was created by a Bhuddist saint who stuck the head of a goat onto the body of a cow and ordered it to get up and walk
Hydro-electric power generated from Bhutan's fast-flowing rivers accounts for almost 50 per cent of GDP, a figure projected to rise to 90 per cent by 2020 as new projects come on stream.
Visitors to Bhutan are requested not to throw stones into the country's many lakes out of respect for the various deities and demons widely believed to live beneath the waters.
Bhutan is to do what the English did after Charles I was beheaded during the Civil War: get rid of Absolute Monarchy and embrace the democratic Constitutional Monarchy.......
Bhutan heads towards democracy
By Peter Foster in Paro
23/04/2007
The small English-speaking Buddhist nation of Bhutan, around 6 times smaller than Britain, is sandwiched between the giants of China and India. It is an Absolute Monarchy, but is to embrace Constitutional Monarchy with the Oxford University-educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck as King.
After 100 years of rule by absolute monarchy, the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is taking its first steps towards democracy.
Bhutanese woman casts her 'dummy' vote
The young Bhutanese woman emerged from the polling booth with a broad grin spread across her face. A few seconds earlier, with the touch of a button on an electronic voting machine, she had performed her part in a little piece of history.
Tshering Pelden, an 18-year-old student, was just one of more than 300,000 Bhutanese citizens to vote in a nationwide "dummy" election at the weekend, a practice run for a real general election this time next year when the king is succeeded by his son.
Even the loud beep emitted by the machines seemed to startle some voters, so alien is the concept of democracy to a people who for the last century have been happy to place their fate in the hands of a benevolent monarch.
So isolated was Bhutan - a pocket-sized Buddhist kingdom bordering Nepal - that when the first car arrived in the early 1960s, local reports said villagers tried to give it water to drink when they saw it parked on the side of the road.
However in the last 40 years, under the rule of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan has developed apace, building roads, schools and hospitals and raising life expectancy from 40 to 66 years.
Now democracy is to be added to that list of achievements, to the concern of many of Bhutan's people.
"It was very exciting," said Tshering Pelden of casting her first ever vote. "We want Bhutan to become developed like other countries, but we love our king and we are nervous about what democracy might bring."
The king, who last December abdicated in favour of his Oxford-educated son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 26, has had to work very hard to persuade his people of the wisdom ceding power to the people.
When the Bhutanese look across at their neighbours and see a rag-tag collection of failed monarchies, military dictatorships and highly corrupt bureaucracies, many - a majority according to a poll in a local newspaper - are less than convinced of the virtues of the democracy.
Flag of Bhutan
"I don't think life will be better under a democracy," says Tandin Tshering, the owner of a construction business in Paro after casting his vote, "until now His Majesty has looked after the interests of the people, but democracy will bring disagreement, corruption and strife."
Such reluctance is audible throughout the villages and towns of Bhutan. With the deadline for registering political parties set for July, only two parties have so far declared an interest in running, leading to Bhutan's chief election commissioner issuing a public appeal for the people to get more political.
One of those who has committed to politics, Tshering Tobgay, a former senior civil servant who resigned his job to help build the 'People's Democratic Party', said the problem was that the people were simply too content.
"This country has made enormous strides over the last 40 years and the people are happy with that progress. Now they are being given democracy without having to fight for it. In any other country it would be the other way round."
Outside the polling stations it was clear just how much work needs to be done to get Bhutan's softly-spoken and law-abiding citizenry to enter into the cut-and-thrust of democratic debate.
For the mock election four "dummy" parties, complete with manifestos were created - the Red [Druk] Dragon, Blue Dragon, Yellow Dragon and Green Dragon - with each one representing a different approach to shaping Bhutan's future.
Tshering Pelden, who voted alongside three generations of her family, said she had voted for the Blue Party which, according to the manifesto posted on the walls of the polling station, was for a "free and fair society".
Was this the idealism of youth? A socialist tendency, perhaps? "No," she replied, tugging at the sleeve of her kira, a traditional sarong-like dress. "Blue is my best colour. I didn't read the manifestos, I knew I liked blue."
As the voting progressed, everyone seemed to have a reason for picking a colour, but none had anything to do with politics. One farmer said he had voted for the Red (Industrial Development) party because it was the colour of his village god, Charuchen.
Another, a hotelier, preferred Green (Ecological Sustainability) on the advice of his astrologer while the Yellow Party (Traditional Values) seemed to be doing well on the basis that it shared its colour with a scarf often worn by the abbot of a local monastery.
But whatever the level of debate, the out-going king has decreed that his country will become a democracy and many senior Bhutanese figures are hoping the people will rise to the challenge when it comes next year.
"When the king introduced local elected village bodies in the 1980s and then a partially elected council of ministers in 1998, the people complained bitterly," said Mingbo Drukpa, the chief of Bhutan's Broadcasting Service.
"We are his like children and now he is asking us to grow up. We must trust the wisdom of his judgment. Some people may be worried today but when democracy begins to happen for real they will look back and realise the King was right."
Bhutan factbox
The royal Coat of Arms of Bhutan
After Bhutan embraces Constitutional Monarchy, the number of Constitutional Monarchies in the world will increase from 37 to 38. In total, 46 countries are Monarchies.
A land-locked nation of 18,146 sq miles Bhutan (pop. 650,000) takes its name, "Druk Yul" or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, from the Himalayas' violent electrical storms.
Bhutan's main languages are English and Dzongkha.
In 2008 Bhutan will adopt a bicameral democracy, consisting of a 47-member lower house and a 20-member revising chamber. The king will be a constitutional monarch, impeachable by a two-thirds majority vote.
In 1971 when Bhutan joined the United Nations, the then King articulated the idea of "Gross National Happiness", stressing sustainability, self-reliance and prosperity was a better measure of progress than simple "Gross National Product".
The Wangchuck Dynasty has ruled Bhutan since 1907. However the centenary year celebrations will not take place until 2008 because 2007 is considered to be a highly inauspicious year.
The national animal of Bhutan is strange-looking ungulate called a "Takin". According to local legend it was created by a Bhuddist saint who stuck the head of a goat onto the body of a cow and ordered it to get up and walk
Hydro-electric power generated from Bhutan's fast-flowing rivers accounts for almost 50 per cent of GDP, a figure projected to rise to 90 per cent by 2020 as new projects come on stream.
Visitors to Bhutan are requested not to throw stones into the country's many lakes out of respect for the various deities and demons widely believed to live beneath the waters.
