80% turnout, Bhutan Peace & Prosperity Party wins a landslide.

Bhutan’s national emblem

Tiny Bhutan; the Himalayan kingdom sandwiched between China and India, held general elections yesterday becoming a democracy for the first time. 

Officials from India lent a hand with overseeing the election process. While turnout was heavier than expected and more than is generally seen in many Western nations — close to 80 percent by the time polls closed at 5 p.m. Of the 47 seats in Parliament, according to provisional results from the Election Commission of Bhutan, 44 went to Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, whose name can be translated as the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party. The rival People’s Democratic Party, the only other party running, lost resoundingly. Its leader, Sangay Ngedup, lost his own constituency.

There were no striking differences between the platforms of the two parties, making the vastly uneven results hard to explain. “We are all caught completely off balance at this moment,” Karma Ura, director of the Center for Bhutan Studies, a government-financed organization, mentioned from Thimphu, the capital. “Functioning of democracy requires a good opposition. It’s not an ideal situation.”

Bhutan may now be a democracy, however the monarchy remains in place. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 28, will remain head of state after the elections. Bhutan’s move towards democracy began after King Jigme Singye Wangchuck handed the throne to his son, the current king, in December 2006 and ordered an end to absolute monarchy. The transition to democracy, though, was not immediately met with enthusiasm. Bhutanese wondered aloud why they needed to give up palace rule, even as they took part in mock elections organized by the government last year.

It brings however democracy ever closer to China’s borders, and those of Tibet. Pakistan, bordering China’s far west Xinjiang Province, held it’s most credible elections for some time in February this year, while Nepal bordering Western Tibet, has elections planned on April 10th. Bangladesh too, is expected to adopt a democratic reform process and move towards full democracy later this year.

Bhutan elects on the national level a legislature known as the National Assembly Of Bhutan. It has 150 members, with 105 members elected at various dates for a three year term in single-seat constituencies,

35 appointed members and 10 representatives of Buddhist groups. Following the election, the National Assembly will have 47 directly elected members. The National Council of Bhutan, a newly-created upper house of the Parliament of Bhutan, was first elected on 26th December last year with 20 directly elected members; five more will be appointed by the king.

Prior to 2007, the country had a unicameral parliament known as Tshogdu.

The move may trigger increased debate amongst Himalayan nations over greater democratic freedoms in China, the nation is now nearly surrounded by democratic states in one stage of development or another, and it may well shift the balance of power within the region, in particular over discussions concerning greater autonomy for Tibet.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.