How democratic is the new draft constitution for the Kingdom of Bhutan? This Democracy International article examines the new constitution (initiated by the King) in Bhutan and its attempts to introduce democracy. While the monarchy does retain some important powers, the draft constitution nevertheless provides a big move towards democracy. The draft constitution combines cultural and traditional elements of Bhutan with democratic values.
The draft for a new constitution for the Kingdom of Bhutan appears to be a big move towards a democratic constitution: it guarantees human and citizen rights and institutionalises a National Assembly, as well as a National Council, elected by the people of Bhutan. However, the King still retains a great deal of influence, including his control of the lawmaking process, his powers in the selection process for candidates of constitutional offices, and being the Supreme Commander of the armed forces.
Aspects of the new constitution and political system include the following:
- Article 1 describes (among other things) the ‘Kingdom of Bhutan’ as a ‘Democratic Constitutional Monarchy’ and constitutes that ‘Sovereign power belongs to the people of Bhutan’.
- Article 6 is critical. With respect to the country’s past and present, it sets regulations regarding citizenship. A Bhutan citizen will be: ‘A person, both of whose parents are citizens of Bhutan, shall be a natural born citizen of Bhutan’.
- In Article 7 the draft of the constitution assures fundamental human and citizen rights to the people of Bhutan.
- The draft of the constitution follows the classic concept of most democracies and institutionalises the separation of the legislative, executive and judiciary system.
- Voting requires being a Bhutanese citizen, a minimum of being 18 years of age, registered in the census and not otherwise disqualified from voting under law.
Looking from the outside to a country significantly different from a Western political and cultural background, it is not easy to give an opinion about the development of democracy in Bhutan. Overall, the constitution represents a successful attempt to democratise from above. However, there remain a number of areas for concern:
- It is still possible to restrict human and citizen rights under certain conditions which are very vague.
- Only the natural born citizens of Bhutan shall enjoy all rights within the political system. This violates the principle of equality which is an important basic for the concept of democracy. Hopefully, future peaceful experiences of the Bhutanese people with this new constitution will convince the Bhutanese government to grant equal citizen rights to everyone.
- The voting law favours strongly the establishment of a two-party system. This is a measure to ensure the representation of the ‘national interest’ by each party. Thus it may be a hurdle for the creation of parties representing single clans or minorities such as the Nepalese.
- There is a severe division between the Parliament, which is dominated by parties, and the National Council. Members of the National Council are not allowed to belong or even have an affiliation to a party.
