Bhutan takes a leap into unknown world of democracy
By Simon DenyerTSHEPHU, Bhutan (Reuters) - The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan takes a big step towards ending a century of absolute monarchy when it stages a mock election on Saturday, a dress rehearsal for the real thing in 2008.
It is a giant leap into the unknown for this conservative Buddhist nation, and one that has many of its citizens more than a little worried -- citizens like 83-year-old Sangay Tsering in the remote hamlet of Tshephu in central Bhutan.
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A child sits in his home in the remote village of Tshephu in the Punakha valley, April 19, 2007. The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan takes a big step towards ending a century of absolute monarchy when it stages a mock election on Saturday, a dress rehearsal for the real thing in 2008. (REUTERS/Desmond Boylan) |
Like much of Bhutan, Tshephu is only slowly emerging into the modern world from an almost medieval past. A medical clinic opened in the area a decade ago, electricity arrived seven months ago, and a dirt road was opened just last month.
Yet Bhutan, which has a population of 635,000 in an area about the size of the Netherlands, is still a desperately poor and deeply traditional place.
The imposing white-walled houses are ornately decorated with paintings of dragons, tigers as well as two huge phalluses meant to ward off evil spirits facing each other and ejaculating semen. Inside, the rooms are mostly bare.
In one, red-robed monks performed a blessing ceremony by the light of butter lamps, their rhythmic chanting interrupted only by a deep blast on two long horns and the muted clash of a cymbal.
Outside, a debate slowly formed about the need to import a foreign idea like democracy.
"We need old traditions, but, at the same time new ideas have to come for the country's development," said Khandu, who travels to the district capital, Punakha, every Monday to pick up the mail for the local clinic and school but is illiterate himself.
"There are a lot of changes already, just with the beginning of democracy," said the 52-year-old villager.
"Before the staff in the district office would be very arrogant and rude to me, give me the letters without even saying where they were for."
"With the start of democracy, they have changed a lot, for the better. Democracy brings everyone to the same level."
Saturday's mock polls are designed to teach voters and officials about the election process. Four mock parties are contesting, and have been given imaginary manifestoes.
KING DRIVES CHANGE
Further along the Himalayas, Nepal endured a decade of civil war and weeks of bloody street protests before it rid itself of its autocratic monarch last year.
One of the ironies in Bhutan is that it was the king himself, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who pushed for democracy -- apparently against the wishes of many of his people -- before handing over the crown to his 26-year-old son last December.
In 1972, when Wangchuck came to the throne as a 16-year-old boy, Bhutan had almost no roads, schools or hospitals.
Today four-fifths of its children go to primary school, most have access to safe drinking water and life expectancy has risen to 66 years from less than 40.
Even so, villagers are beginning to demand a little more from their government.
"Even if the king is very good, he can't reach every point in the country," said 35-year-old Tashi Wangchuk.
"With the start of democracy, people will be more aware of what is going on in different places, and development will reach the grassroots."
In other towns and villages, different views emerge.
Some look across the border at India, Bangladesh and Nepal, at strikes, protests and corruption, and wonder if that too is the baggage of democracy.
"I think it’s high time for democracy," said 19-year-old Sangay Wangmo, tending her sister's general store in the town of Gehu. "I just hope there is no corruption among people, I hope it doesn't become like India."
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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