Bhutan’s first national election
Refreshing!
Bhutan has elected mostly people in their 20s and 30s to its new upper house as the tiny Himalayan state switches to democracy after a century of absolute monarchy, election officials said Wednesday.
Eleven of the 15 members elected in the country’s first national polls Monday are under 40, while even the oldest is a relatively spry 46, the Election Commission said. Two of the winners are fresh out of college.
This youthfulness is partly the result of a rule that all candidates be university graduates - a young demographic in Bhutan…
This Buddhist country has been preparing for democracy since the former monarch, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided to hand power to an elected government, even as many of his citizens said they were quite happy with the way things were.
The monarchy, now headed by Wangchuck’s son, King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, a 27-year-old Oxford University graduate, remains popular in Bhutan, partly because of its policies focused on boosting what it calls “gross national happiness.”
Since some Western democracies sound like they’re on the way back to monarchy - it’s refreshing to see what’s happening in Bhutan.
Posted: Wed - January 2, 2008 at 09:55 AM