By IANS
Thimphu : The first elections to the National Council of Bhutan will be held this December, the country's election commission announced Monday. Bhutan plans a switchover from absolute monarchy to democracy in 2008.
Following the National Council elections, the elections to the National Assembly will be held in two rounds – a primary round in February 2008 and the main elections in March 2008, said the Kuensel newspaper.
The National Council will have 20 directly elected members and five members appointed by the King of Bhutan. It will be the equivalent of the upper house of parliament.
The national assembly – equivalent of the lower house of parliament – will have 47 seats.
Kuensel said the election dates were announced following a decree from the king.
The first round of dummy polls in this nation of 700,000 people was held this April. It was meant to teach the voters how parliamentary elections work.
Registration of political parties in Bhutan started Sunday, the election commission added. It will train members of various parties on electoral rules and regulations.
The election commission will also conduct seminars all over Bhutan over the next two months to educate voters about the National Council elections.
The commission launched a handbook for candidates contesting the elections to parliament and local government.
The scheduled parliamentary elections next year is the culmination of a plan carefully chalked out by the former king Jigme Singye Wangchuk – who handed the crown to his young Oxford-educated son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in December.
In 2004 Bhutan unveiled a constitution, which was sent to some 530,000 citizens for their views. Once adopted, the Bhutanese constitution will replace a royal decree of 1953 giving the monarch absolute power.
The current National Assembly, which was established in 1953 as the highest legislative body in the country, has already held its last session and will be dissolved on July 31. The Royal Advisory Council (RAC) will be dissolved in October.
Right now, the problem in Bhutan is to get enough candidates to contest in the coming elections. Three political parties had been formed by early June, and all were struggling to get candidates who qualified under the election act that says a candidate must have a minimum Bachelor's degree to contest the elections.
Bhutan's literacy level is the lowest in South Asia – around 42 percent with just about 11,000 graduates.