New Bhutan looks to royalty on first day as democracy
THIMPHU (AFP) — The new political party set to run Bhutan's first democratic government said Tuesday that it would look to guidance from the country's revered king who ordered the polls.
The world's newest democracy gave a landslide election win on Monday to the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) or Bhutan United Party, led by ex-premier Jigmi Thinley.
In his first address to the nation after his party emerged the winner, Thinley indicated that his group would continue to seek guidance from the royal family, which was expected to retain strong influence over the government.
"I will endeavor to serve the king, the country and people with the deepest of commitment and loyalty," Thinley said in a statement published in a special evening edition of weekly newspaper Bhutan Observer.
US-educated Thinley, 55, said his party will "look to the future with confidence and knowledge that we will have the guidance and wisdom" of King Jigme Singye Namgyel Wangchuck.
The party won 44 of 47 seats in the lower house in a landmark vote proposed by Bhutan's royals in a move to peacefully transform the tiny Buddhist nation, wedged between massive neighbours India and China, into a constitutional monarchy.
The sweep stunned even the DPT, which differed only slightly from its rival -- both parties are staunchly loyal to the royal family and both promised to stick with the country's Gross National Happiness philosophy to measure growth.
"The margin is overwhelming. It places a heavy burden on us. Expectations are very high both from the people and the king," said Yeshey Zimba, the DPT's winning candidates.
"We will be guided by the past but now the process will be a democratic process."
Thinley is one of the architects of the nation's efforts to measure its growth and prosperity in terms of happiness.
His fixation on happiness may have swung the election in his party's favour, one observer said, trumping the opposition's family ties to the royals.
"DPT's vision and manifesto are completely based on the Gross National Happiness concept," said Kinley Dorji, editor-in-chief of the national Kuensel newspaper. "They were seen to be a stronger advocate of the idea."
The party, which put forward five former ministers as candidates, was also seen as the tried-and-tested choice compared with the People's Democratic Party led by the king's uncle, Dorji added.
The DPT refrained from boisterous celebrations of its victory as the conservative nation waits out a 10-day period for opposition candidates to contest results.
"This is not the time for celebration. This is a time for contemplation," party spokesman Palden Tshering told AFP.
Many shops remained closed in Thimphu and few people could be seen in the streets as 80 percent of the city residents were estimated to have gone to their constituencies to vote and were yet to return.
Observers praised the elections that saw 80 percent of Bhutanese voters, urged on by their beloved 28-year-old monarch, turn out.
"The elections were very peaceful and well organised," said Ted Osius, a political specialist at the US embassy in the Indian capital New Delhi, who was one of 42 international poll observers.
Bhutan's election body is expected to certify the victory on April 5, giving the party the go-ahead to form a government.
Before the king's dynasty took over a century ago, the "Land of the Thunder Dragon," which was never colonised, was divided up into local fiefdoms. It had no roads, telephones or currency until the 1960s, and only allowed TV in 1999.
The educated elite have traditionally dominated politics and only university graduates were allowed to stand for the new assembly.
The kingdom's move to democracy began in 2001 when former king Jigme Singye Wangchuck handed over the tasks of daily government to a council of ministers and stepped down in favour of his son in late 2006.
But despite election excitement that saw some Bhutanese trek hundreds of miles across the landlocked country to vote, many people still viewed the concept of democracy with trepidation.
"I don't understand why the king had to hand over power to people," said shopowner Tshering Dolker, 55.
There was also confusion about when the new government would take charge.
"No one knows when swearing-in will take place," a DPT official said. "The only person who might know is the king."
