Category Archives: Politics

Interim gup election off, incumbents extended

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After a timely intervention by His Majesty the King and members of the National Council, Bhutan will not witness an interim gup election in December, instead the terms for the incumbent gups will be extended until the local government elections in 2008.

Observers reason that His Majesty’s suggestion through the royal Kasho on December 9 and the National Council members’ report to His Majesty, the prime minister and the National Assembly speaker, were timely because some gewogs were set to hold elections as early as December 15.

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Bhutanese refugees tell dark side of Himalayan kingdom

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If Canadians know anything about Bhutan, it likely revolves around the tiny Himalayan nation’s seemingly enlightened monarchs, often praised for ushering in democracy and championing a state-sponsored philosophy dubbed Gross National Happiness.

But this week, the first of 5,000 refugees from Bhutan arrived in Canada, offering a reminder of the dark side of the country’s recent history. The refugees — ethnic Nepalese and mostly Hindu — were effectively forced out of Bhutan by that same, Buddhist royal family almost 20 years ago and have been languishing in camps in Nepal ever since.

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Bhutan, the world’s youngest democracy, hands Raven Crown to 28-year-old King

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King Jigme Khesar2 The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan crowned a 28-year-old Oxford-educated bachelor as its new King yesterday, six months after reluctantly transforming itself from an absolute monarchy into the world’s newest democracy.

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck became the world’s youngest reigning monarch when he was handed the Raven Crown by his father, the former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in an elaborate ceremony in Thimphu, the capital. The former King, who is 52, abdicated two years ago as part of a plan to reform the hermit-like Buddhist nation of 635,000 people, which had no roads until the 1960s and allowed television only in 1999.

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Lessons in Gross National Happiness

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Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley Many Americans are likely unaware of the other historic election of 2008. Bhutan, once an absolute monarchy, became one of the world’s newest democracies in March.

Most Americans are probably not thinking about Bhutan right now. Sure, some are aware of that tiny Buddhist nation sandwiched between China and India. But Bhutan can seem a universe away. It didn’t have television until the late 1990s. Its main export is electricity. Instead of focusing on gross domestic product (GDP), Bhutan measures gross national happiness (GNH).

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