World Youngest Democracy

1 April, 2008 - Bhutan has become the youngest member in the club of parliamentary

democracies. The peaceful elections on March 24 marked a key turning point in the smooth

transition from monarchy to democracy. With the success of this historic process, the Bhutanese

people have fulfilled the vision of the “father of democracy” the Fourth King, Jigme Singye

Wangchuck.

Outsiders, unfamiliar with developments in Bhutan, may think that democratization is a sudden

step. But Bhutanese history shows that the process started 101 years ago. In 1907, our ancestors

elected our first hereditary King. Ever since, the five successive Kings have not only safeguarded

and strengthened the sovereignty of Bhutan but also ensured that we enjoyed peace and stability.

All our Kings have worked tirelessly and selflessly in promoting the interest of the nation, while

contributing to the gradual increasing prosperity and well being of us Bhutanese.

During the 32-year reign of the Fourth King, he has carefully planned a balance between the

development of the country and preserving the environment, tradition and culture. Despite being

a landlocked country, in 2006, Bhutan’s per capita income was USD 1,321 and retains 64 percent

of forest cover. In addition, Bhutan is one of the last living museums of tradition and culture.

Consequently, we Bhutanese hold our institution of monarchy in high esteem. Two years ago, the

Fourth King travelled throughout Bhutan to chair the consultation meetings to discuss the draft

constitution. This 34 Article draft constitution paved the way for the historic March 24 election.

However, during the consultation meetings, many Bhutanese strongly raised concerns about the

proposed introduction of democracy. At that time, most Bhutanese thought the proposal was too

premature, and hence pleaded with their benevolent monarch to reconsider his advocacy of this

new system.

But now, most Bhutanese are grateful for the “shock and awe” approach adopted by the Fourth

King. I suspect the intention of the Fourth King’s dramatic approach was to raise awareness and

educate his people about the merits of parliamentary democracy in the 21st century. Soon, the

people agreed with their monarch’s vision that this new system was essential to safeguard the

identity and strengthen the sovereignty of the last Mahayana Buddhist kingdom. Situated in the

Himalayas, Bhutan is north of India, which is the world’s largest democracy. Hence,

acknowledging the strengths of democracy and the role of Bhutan in the 21st century, Bhutanese

accepted the visionary royal initiative for political change.

Two years ago, on December 9th, 2006, the Fourth King (51) stunned the nation when he

abdicated in favor of his Oxford-educated son. In doing so, he broke all royal protocol and

created history. In a special cabinet sitting in Tashichhodzong (Fortress) in Thimphu, the Fourth

King formally announced: “The time has now come for me to hand over my responsibility to

Trongsa Penlop (Crown Prince) Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck.”

Initially, all of us were shocked with this dramatic act but soon stood in complete awe. Most of us

had realized that our Fourth King had given us a special gift and empowered us to charter our

own future.

The Fourth King - a playmaker in his basketball team - has always maintained that the fate of

Bhutan should not lie in the hands of one person. He has also frequently pointed to us that a King

is born and does not become one by merit. He believed that, as long as there was a good King, the

future of Bhutan would be all right. But he always continuously questioned what could happen if

there was to be a bad King. In the words of an anti-monarchist foreign visitor, whose five minute

royal audience turned to a few hours discourse, returned home with deep reverence for the Fourth

King. He said, “The Fourth King himself never liked nor believed in monarchy.” This conviction

has been directly translated into the birth of parliamentary democracy in Bhutan.

The initial resistance of the Bhutanese people to change soon wore down. Our faith in the vision

of our monarch and widespread respect for his continual selfless acts, even to give up power,

made us realize and accept his vision for this tiny kingdom. In addition, keeping with Buddhist

philosophy that propagates impermanence and encourages change, we became more agreeable to

change. So, left with no option, the people slowly accepted the concept of parliamentary

democracy and participated with enthusiasm in this transition.

Eventually, the enthusiasm for democracy grew exponentially and spread like wildfire. In 2007,

seven out of the ten ministers, along with many capable officers, resigned from the government to

rise to the call of the nation and contest as candidates in the historic elections. Among them, two

of the ministers became leaders of the two political parties (People’s Democratic Party and Druk

Phuensum Tshogpa), that emerged in the lead-up to the elections.

Prior to the March 24 election, the primary elections stipulated in Article 15 of Bhutan’s draft

constitution had to be foregone because only these two political parties emerged to contest the

election.

The Fourth King took personal interest in the drafting of the constitution of Bhutan. Over a few

years he had studied the constitution of over 200 countries and discussed them with as many

people as he could. The draft constitution has been debated and discussed with all the Bhutanese

before the 34 Articles were embraced.

Three years ago, in 2005, in the Fourth King’s last formal public address to the nation on the

occasion of the 98th National Day, he said that the introduction of parliamentary democracy was

not early, if not late, and not done in haste. It was after a gradual 26-year process of

decentralization and devolution of power to the people that parliamentary democracy was being

adopted.

In his last national day address, our Fourth King reminded and assured us that democracy was not

being introduced in haste. In his address, our Fourth King said, “As our people know, Dzongkhag

Yargay Tshogdus (state assemblies) were established in 1981, when we first started the policy of

decentralization.” Ten years later, in 1991, the gewog (district block) assembly was introduced. In

addition, administrators at the state level were empowered with administrative and financial

powers. Our Fourth King told us his plans, “During the next two years, 2006 and 2007, the

Election Commission will educate our people in the process of parliamentary democracy.”

The Kings of Bhutan were always careful to modernize but not westernize. They have been

mindful to view the world through eastern spiritual eyes, with respect to nature and human life,

and yet to embrace modern western concepts like openness, optimism and use of science. In

modernizing Bhutan, they have also carefully avoided the pitfalls of westernization like

individualism and materialism. In our region, where democracy has failed more than it has

succeeded, we hope Bhutan will help in increasing the people’s conviction in the system of

democracy.

The result of this long democratization process has been a successful one. Despite the initial

skepticism to the Fourth King’s advocacy of democracy, Bhutan has emerged from its first

elections as united and strong as it was under the rule of our benevolent monarchs. This historic

change into a full fledged parliamentary democracy was witnessed by international observers.

The EU observation mission was amongst the 107 international media personnel, representing 63

agencies, that covered the 865 polling stations.

Now Bhutan is the youngest member of the club of parliamentary democracies. The first order of

business for the newly elected parliament would be to adopt the 34 Article draft constitution. The

28-year-old dynamic King, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck will formally

became the first democratic constitutional monarch, with the primary job of upholding the

constitution and being the symbol of unity of Bhutan.