Bhutan Kingdom’s Tryst With Democracy

The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, situated between India and China, began a big experiment towards ending a century of absolute monarchy and ushering in democracy. The country held a ‘mock election’ on Saturday, to be followed by the real thing in 2008.

One of the ironies in Bhutan is that it was the king himself, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who pushed for democracy — apparently against the wishes of many of his people — before handing over the crown to his 26-year-old son last December, reports Reuters.

“Yet Bhutan, which has a population of 635,000 in an area about the size of the Netherlands, is still a desperately poor and deeply traditional place.

“Saturday’s mock polls are designed to teach voters and officials about the election process. Four mock parties are contesting, and have been given imaginary manifestoes.

“In 1972, when Wangchuck came to the throne as a 16-year-old boy, Bhutan had almost no roads, schools or hospitals.

“Today four-fifths of its children go to primary school, most have access to safe drinking water and life expectancy has risen to 66 years from less than 40.”

In another report The Telegraph reports: “Eight years ago they saw television for the first time. Seven years ago they got the internet. Yesterday, the citizens of the tiny time-warped Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan finally took a step closer to another feature of modern life: democracy.

“Also known as Druk Yul, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, because of its violent storms, Bhutan is like a Shangri-la preserved by its hereditary monarchy.

“But perhaps strangest of all is Bhutan’s promotion of gross national happiness (GNH) as an alternative measure of development to gross national product. The term was coined by Bhutan’s previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in the 1970s and remains its most famous export.”

” ‘It’s an idea that’s catching on across the world: the importance of things like a sense of community,’ said Nicolas Rosellini, the United Nations resident co-ordinator. ‘But here in Bhutan, where there is genuine contentment, people want to know how democracy will fit in’.”

Further along the Himalayas, Nepal endured a decade of civil war and weeks of bloody street protests before it rid itself of its autocratic monarch last year. And here in Bhutan we see the King himself offering to surrender his powers to the people.

This is a welcome sign for India as its other two neighbours – Pakistan and Bangladesh – have opted for military dictatorship…and so has Myanmar (earlier known as Burma).

Ironically, the dictatorships are being reportedly supported by the US administration in the two Islamic Asian countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Incidentally, Bhutan is a Buddhist country, while Nepal is a predominantly Hindu country.

For more on Bhutan please click here…

And for pictorial view…here…