By IANS
Thimphu : Bhutan is all set for Monday’s historic parliamentary elections, the Himalayan kingdom making its first big leap towards democracy by shedding a 100-year-old monarchy.
An estimated 310,000 registered voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the Buddhist kingdom of 700,000 people, to elect 20 members to the National Council or the upper house of parliament. The king would nominate five additional members to the council.
“We are ready for the vote with poll officials on their way to their respective voting centres. A total of 48 candidates are in the fray,” Bhutan’s chief election commissioner Dasho Kunzang Wangdi told IANS.
Monday’s vote would be held for just 15 seats, as there were no nominations filed in five districts. Bhutan has 20 districts and each of them would have a National Council member in the upper house.
The Election Commission would announce fresh dates for elections to the remaining five districts by seeking nominations once again.
Polls to the National Assembly or the lower house are scheduled for February 2008. Bhutan’s first elected prime minister will be from among the National Assembly members.
Candidates contesting the National Council are eminent personalities from the districts rather than representing a political party unlike in the National Assembly, where elections are to be fought among different political parties.
The National Assembly will have 75 members. The candidates in most of the 15 districts, where Monday’s vote would take place, include people from all streams – from orators to singers and comedians.
Comedian Sangay Lhendup, a 25-year-old political science graduate from Shillong in India’s Meghalaya state, is solely depending on his antics to woo voters during his election meetings at Samdrup Jhongkhar, a district bordering Assam.
“I may seem mediocre but am wiser,” Lhendup told a motley crowd of people who gathered to listen to him.
Most candidates were making pledges to bring about economic development and alleviate poverty in the region. They have also said they will give security high priority.
Voters on their part are still confused and unable to differentiate between National Council and National Assembly.
“I really don’t know and still think that monarchy is good for Bhutan,” Den Lama, a Buddhist monk, said. An opinion poll conducted by Bhutan’s national newspaper Kuensel said a staggering 49 percent of those who responded were not interested to cast their votes Monday.
A national holiday has been declared in this Shangri-la of jaw-dropping beauty for the vote. International observers from India, the US and Australia would be monitoring the polls with a five-member Thimphu-based UNDP team representing the UN as observers.
Tight security measures have been adopted. “The home ministry has decided to seal off the border with India from 6 p.m. Dec 30 until 6 a.m. Jan 1 to prevent possible cross-border movement of unauthorised people or possible trouble makers,” Wangdi said.
The king and other members of the royal family as well as Bhutan’s influential Buddhist clergy are exempted from participating in the electoral process. On Dec 16 last year, Bhutan’s King Jigme Singhye Wangchuck had announced abdication in favour of his Western-educated son, Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who was expected to usher in a parliamentary democracy in the country.
Jigme Khesar has since assumed charge as Bhutan’s new king.
The former king had set the process in motion in 2001 for Bhutan’s transformation from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy that led to the country having a new constitution.
The king would become head of state after the National Assembly polls next year, but parliament would have the power to impeach him by a two-thirds vote.