Bhutanese democracy

The development of Bhutanese democracy has been marked by the active encouragement and participation of reigning Bhutanese monarchs since the 1950s, beginning with legal reforms such as the abolition of slavery, and culminating in the enactment of Bhutan's Constitution. The first democratic elections in Bhutan began in 2007, and all levels of government had been democratically elected by 2011. These elections included Bhutan's first ever partisan National Assembly election. Democratization in Bhutan has been marred somewhat by the intervening large-scale expulsion and flight of Bhutanese refugees during the 1990s; the subject remains somewhat taboo in Bhutanese politics. Bhutan was ranked 13th most electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.535 out of 1.

Role of the monarchy

History

The process of modernization and democratization was initiated by the Third King of Bhutan Jigme Dorji Wangchuck amid increasing internal and external political complexity. Three years prior, in 1949, India and Bhutan had signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which provided that India would not interfere in Bhutan's internal affairs but that Bhutan would be guided by India in its foreign policy. This is the first international agreement that unambiguously recognizes Bhutan's independence and sovereignty. Early groundwork for democratization began in 1952, when then king Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the country's legislature – a 130-member National Assembly – to promote a more democratic form of governance. Among the Third King's most basic democratic reforms was the abolition of slavery in Bhutan in 1958. Under the reign of H.M Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Bhutan further endeavored simultaneously to foster foreign ties and to develop its own infrastructure under five year plans.
The Fourth King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck planned and oversaw many of the political and legal reforms that have shaped the constitutional monarchy and democracy in Bhutan. On one hand, these included procedures to force royal abdication and a draft democratic constitution ultimately ratified after his own abdication. On the other hand, H.M Jigme Singye Wangchuck's reign saw the enactment of restrictive citizenship laws, increased emphasis on culturally assimilatory driglam namzha laws, and the expulsion and flight of thousands of Lhotshampa refugees from Bhutan in the 1990s. Since the abdication of the Fourth King, the head of state has retained the regal title, but no longer reigns with absolute power.
The reign of the Fifth and current King of Bhutan H.M Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck has seen the enactment of the Constitution of 2008, as well as the democratic elections of both houses of Parliament and three levels of local government.
Since the establishment of the House of Wangchuck as the ruling royal family of Bhutan, the intimately connected Dorji family has played an integral role in opening Bhutan to the outside world and promoting political reforms. Kazi Dorji had advised the future First King to mediate between the British and Tibet, and it was Kazi Dorji who was later responsible for the large-scale induction of Nepalis into Bhutan. Under the monarchy, the family accrued massive wealth and its members filled multiple high government posts including Chief Minister and its successor post Prime Minister. The sister of Prime Minister Jigme Dorji – the daughter of Topgay Raja – married the Third King of Bhutan, creating a new bond so prominent as to cause some discontent among other Bhutanese families; the public has been divided politically between pro-modernist and pro-monarchist camps.

Elections

Elections, the cornerstone of participatory democracy, began in Bhutan with a mock election on April 21, 2007, to allow the population to become accustomed to the democratic process. Bhutan's actual first non-partisan democratic election commenced on December 31, 2007. These were followed by actual elections to choose Bhutan's first democratic government in the form of a bicameral parliament. First, citizens elected members of the non-partisan National Council between 2007 and 2008; the more powerful partisan National Assembly, from which the executive is nominated, was elected later in 2008. This government enacted the kingdom's first ever constitution. Bhutan's first democratic local elections were originally slated for 2008, but were delayed until 2011. Local elections for dzongkhag, gewog, and thromde governments were conducted on a staggered schedule between January and August 2011. Voter participation was markedly lower than in previous elections, owing variously to delays, disillusionment, and complications in voting procedure.

Mock election

On April 21, 2007, Bhutan began practising democracy. They held a mock election to begin to acclimate the populace to the democratic process. There were four parties on the ballot: Druk Blue, Druk Green, Druk Red and Druk Yellow. Although the parties were fictional, there were thematic party platform descriptions for each one.
Runoff elections were held on May 28, 2007, between Druk Yellow and Druk Red. The two leading parties put up randomly chosen high school students as candidates in the 47 constituencies in the second round in an effort to produce a two-party system to avoid the need for coalition governments and possible political instability. The Druk Yellow Party swept the vote and won 46 of the 47 constituencies. Turnout in the second round was 66%.

Party	Platform	Votes	Percent	Runoff election
Druk Blue	to fight corruption and extend free health care and education	< 25,424	<20.39	n/a
Druk Green	environment-friendly development	>18,637	>14.93	n/a
Druk Red	to promote industrialization	25,423	20.38	?
Druk Yellow	preservation and promotion of our rich cultural heritage and tradition	55,263	44.30	?

First National Council election, 2007–2008

On December 31, 2007, Bhutan democratically elected its first National Council, the upper house of the new bicameral Parliament of Bhutan. The National Council of Bhutan consisted 25 members, out of which 20 members were directly elected from 20 dzongkhags by 312,817 eligible voters, and five more nominated by the King of Bhutan. Nominations had to be filed by November 27, 2007, and the campaigning for 15 of the 20 dzongkhags took place from November 30, 2007, until December 31, 2007.
Elections were not held in five dzongkhags on December 31, 2007, since they either did not have any candidate or had only a single candidate until the last date for filing the nominations. The election rules state that there should be at least two candidates for each dzongkhag, otherwise the election would be postponed for that particular dzongkhag. The elections in these five dzongkhags were held on January 29, 2008.

First National Assembly election, 2008

Bhutan held its first general election on March 24, 2008 for the National Assembly. Two parties were registered by the Election Commission of Bhutan to contest the election: the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, which was formed by the merger of the previously established Bhutan People's United Party and All People's Party and is led by Jigme Y. Thinley, and the People's Democratic Party. The third political party, the Bhutan National Party, had its application for the registration canceled.
Turnout reached nearly 80% by the time the polls closed, and the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party reportedly won 44 seats, with the People's Democratic Party winning only three seats. The PDP's leader, Sangay Ngedup, who is also the ruling king's uncle, lost his own constituency by 380 votes. Reportedly, there were few differences between the platforms of the two parties, which might explain the unexpectedly uneven results; analysts are worried that the small representation of the opposition may obstruct the functioning of the newly founded democratic system. Both parties had pledged to follow the king's guidelines of "pursuing Gross National Happiness", and both party leaders had previously served in governments.
Another attempt to explain the BPPP's large-scale victory is that it is apparently the more pro-monarchy of the two parties. An explanation popularly given by Bhutanese in the days leading up to the election for the lack of support for the People's Democratic Party was that it would encourage corruption and be contrary to the King's request for the Bhutanese to form a popular government to elect leadership having strong personal ties to both the King and Bhutanese business.
The DPT officially approved its leader Jigme Thinley as candidate for Prime Minister on 5 April 2008. He took office on 9 April.

Enactment of the Constitution

The Constitution was enacted July 18, 2008 by the first democratically elected government. It was thoroughly planned by several government officers and agencies over a period of almost seven years amid increasing democratic reforms in Bhutan. The Constitution is based on Buddhist philosophy, international Conventions on Human Rights, comparative analysis of 20 other modern constitutions, public opinion, and existing laws, authorities, and precedents. According to Princess Sonam Wangchuck, the constitutional committee was particularly influenced by the Constitution of South Africa because of its strong protection of human rights.
On 4 September 2001, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck had briefed the Lhengye Zhungtshog, the Chief Justice, and the Chairman of the Royal Advisory Council on the need to draft a formal Constitution for the Kingdom of Bhutan. While Bhutan did not have a formal Constitution, the King believed all the principles and provisions of a Constitution were covered under the various written laws and legislation which guided the actions of the King and the functioning of the Royal Government, the judiciary, and the National Assembly of Bhutan. Nevertheless, the King felt the time had come for a formal Constitution for the Kingdom of Bhutan. The King expressed his desire that the Lhengye Zhungtshog and the Chief Justice should hold discussions on formulating the Draft Constitution, and ordered the formation of the Drafting Committee from among government officials, National Assembly members, and eminent citizens who were well qualified, had a good understanding of the laws of Bhutan. The King emphasized that the Constitution must ensure that Bhutan had a political system that would provide peace and stability, and also strengthen and safeguard Bhutan's security and sovereignty. On November 30, 2001, the King inaugurated the outset of its drafting with a ceremony. By 2005, the Royal Government had circulated copies of the draft among the civil service and local governments in order to receive locals' feedback.