For some reason Bhutan is one of my favourite countries, I think just due to how strange and unique it is. The small country is isolated within mountains and its people have relatively little contact with the outside world, plus they like dragons! Their king is even called a Dragon-King! It’s all pretty epic. So, I have been looking forward to this one.
Bhutan is a small Buddhist Kingdom in the south of Asia on the Himalayas’ eastern edge and is known for its monasteries, dzongs, which are a type of fortress and its impressive and unique landscapes from steep mountains, subtropical plains and valleys, many tourists come here to trek. The country is landlocked, wedged between China and India, its border with China is somewhat disputed. The country’s capital is Thimphu and is located in Bhutan’s west.
The country is also notable for never having been colonized in its history and has been independent since its creation. As you can probably suspect the largest religion is Buddhism and is the country’s designated official religion. Its language is Dzongkha, also called Bhutanese and is a Sino-Tibetan language. The currency is the ngultrum and as of 2017 its population was just over 727,000.
Government Type
Bhutan is a very recent democracy, only having had transferred from an absolute monarchy to constitutional parliamentary democracy in 2008. This means the country still has a monarch, the king, who is Head of State but also has a Prime Minister who is Head of Government.
There is also a bicameral parliament that makes up the legislative government. Multiple parties are allowed but only two parties can sit in the lower house, which is decided on by primary elections that happen before the main parliamentary elections. Members who sit in the upper house of parliament cannot be a part of parties and must be non-partisan.
Monarchy and Executive Government
As said the country has a Monarchy with the King who is Head of State, representing Bhutan as its face and also has a Prime Minister who is Head of Government, dealing with executive government and being accountable to the king and bicameral parliament.
Bhutan’s king is called the Druk Gyalpo which literally means “Dragon King”. The monarchy is hereditary but the king has significantly less power now, having to retire the crown by age 65 and can be forced out by a two-thirds majority vote in parliament which would be followed by a national referendum which must pass a simple majority in all of the country’s twenty districts. The King has some limited powers he can exercise, but many of his powers were transferred to the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister.
Such powers the King has include appointing the Prime Minister who was nominated by the winning party after parliamentary elections, the King can also nominate five members of the National Council (upper house of parliament) to be appointed, just like all the other members of the National Council, these members must be non-partisan and not part of a political party. The King can award titles and decorations in accordance with tradition and custom, he can grant citizenship, land, amnesty and give pardon or reduction of sentences.
The King can also appoint a number of positions and offices, such as the Chief Justice of Bhutan and of the High Court, Drangpons of the Supreme and High court, Chief election commissioner and election commissioners, Auditor General, Defence heads from a list recommended by the Service Promotion Board, Attorney General, Governor of Central Bank who is recommended by the Prime Minister and a number of government positions, many on recommendation from the Prime Minister or who have been nominated by a commission, among other positions.
The King also grants royal assent to bills passed by parliament, he can though refuse and offer amendments and objections to the bill, in this case the house will sit in a joint-sitting and the bill in question will require a two-thirds vote to pass, whether it accepts the amendments, objections or rejects them. If it passes the King must then grant assent to the bill.
The King also appoints a monk that is learned and respected and ordained in accordance with the Druk-lu, with the nine qualities of the spiritual master and accomplished in ked-dzog that is recommended by five Lepons as the Je Khenpo, a highly important religious leader and is often seen as a close and powerful advisor to the King.
The King can sit at proceedings of either house of parliament and can also address them and can send messages to either or both houses of parliament. The King can ask either the Speaker or Chairperson of the houses to hold an extraordinary session of parliament if necessary.
The King also promotes the country’s interests abroad by holding events such as receiving state guests and undertaking state visits to other countries.
The King is also the Supreme Commander in Chief of Bhutan’s armed forces and militia. The constitution only allows the armed forces and militia to be used against a foreign state in self-defense or for maintaining security, territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The King is also charged with upholding and protecting the country’s constitution.
The King presides over a Privy Council, members consist of two appointed by the King, one nominated by the National Assembly (lower house of parliament) and one nominated by the National Council (upper house of parliament). The Privy Council deals with matters pertaining to the privileges of the King and royal family, matters with conduct of the royal family, rendering advice to the King on matters of the Throne and royal family, all matters pertaining to crown properties and any other matter that may be commanded by the King.
The Prime Minister heads the Council of Ministers which determines governing policy and is accountable to the king and parliament. The Prime Minister is nominated by the winning party after parliamentary elections and is then appointed by the King.
If the King abdicates, dies, or is removed and the heir is not yet of age (21-years or older) or if the King has relinquished power temporarily a Council of Regency will be formed to temporarily perform the royal prerogatives of the monarchy. The Council of Regency is made up of a senior member of the royal family nominated by the Privy Council, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of Bhutan, the Speaker, the Chairperson of the National Council and the Leader of the Opposition Party.
The King and members of the Royal Family enjoy special privileges such as annuities from the state in accordance with parliamentary law, all rights and privileges including the provision of palaces and residences for official and personal use and exemption from taxation on the royal annuity and properties.
Environmental protection is enshrined in the country’s constitution, such as preventing pollution and degradation. At least 60% of Bhutan’s land must be kept under forest cover for all time. Parliament has the power to declare any part of the country as a National Park, Wildlife Reserve, Nature Reserve, Protected Forest, Biosphere Reserve, Critical Watershed or any other category meriting protection.
Legislative Government
Legislative Parliament is made up of a bicameral parliament consisting of an upper and lower house that debates, scrutinizes, rejects, amends and passes legislation to be put into law. They have powers to keep the King and Prime Minister in check and hold them to account.
The houses appoint committees which draft and aims to introduce legislation and amendments, the upper house is unable to introduce money and financial bills, which can only be introduced to the lower house.
If one house passes a bill but the other refuses to pass it or amendments put on to it are rejected then the King will call a joint session in an attempt to pass the bill, requiring a two-thirds majority. If a house does not pass or return a bill by the next session the bill will automatically pass to the King for assent.
A number of officials can be impeached by parliament due to incapacity, incompetency, or serious misconduct, impeachment on an official requires a two-thirds vote to pass.
The lower house of parliament, the National Assembly or the Gyelyong Tshogdu, currently has 47 members elected by the people. It is seen as the primary house of parliament. The National Assembly is presided over by a Speaker and Deputy Speaker elected from among house members, the Speaker who regulates debate and makes sure parliamentary rules are followed and makes decisions on the affairs of the lower house, if there is a deadlock in a vote, the Speaker will cast the deciding vote.
The upper house of parliament, the National Council or Gyelyong Tshogde, currently has 25 members, 20 who are elected and 5 who are appointed by the King. The upper house is seen as a house of review and scrutinizes lower house decisions. The National Council is presided over by a Chairperson and a Deputy Chairperson elected from among house members, the Chairperson has the same powers over the upper house as the Speaker does the lower house including a deciding vote in deadlocks.
If there is a joint sitting the Speaker of the lower house takes precedence.
Both houses can remove a sitting member with a two-thirds vote. A motion of no-confidence can be brought against the government and requires one-third vote to pass, if passed the King will dismiss the government.
The bicameral parliament must also consent to district boundary changes and any territorial border changes by a three-fourths vote.
Changing the constitution requires various requirements to be met depending on what part or parts are being changed, including super-majorities and national referendums.
Electoral System
Parliamentary elections take place every 5-years to elect the lower house, National Assembly. First of all, Primary elections take place which determine the two parties that will be allowed to field candidates in the main Parliamentary election, this is decided by a national popular vote, after this, candidates stand in single-seat constituencies within each of the twenty districts, the amount of constituencies a district has is no less than two and no more than seven and is based on a districts population and candidates are elected by first-past-the-post. The largest party nominates the Prime Minister who is then appointed by the King. Constituencies in each district are reviewed every 10-years by parliament.
The upper house, the National Council, is also elected/appointed every 5-years. 20 members are elected, one from each of the 20 districts by first-past-the-post and five further members are appointed by the King. All of these members cannot be part of a party and must be non-partisan.
Eligible candidates for parliament must have Bhutanese citizenship, be a registered voter of the constituency they stand in, be 25-years or older but not over the age of 65, not be receiving money or assistance from foreign sources and fulfil necessary educational and other qualifications prescribed by electoral law.
Candidates can be disqualified from running by marrying a person who is not a citizen of Bhutan, termination from Public Service, convicted for any criminal offences and sentenced to imprisonment, is in arrears of taxes or other dues to government, failing to lodge accounts of election expenses, holds any office of profit under the government as prescribed by electoral law or disqualified under any law made by parliament.
Voters must have Bhutanese citizenship, be at least 18-years or older, registered to the civil registry of their constituency for at least 1-year and not disqualified from voting under any law od Bhutan. Voting is not compulsory.
Thank you for reading, my source of information for this post is from the 2008 Bhutan constitution itself and so is as accurate as possible but if you are using this information in a serious capacity it is important to cross-check as the possibility remains that I may have mis-interpreted some things, as well as that the constitution can also change and so over time certain things may become outdated on this post. Next up will be Bolivia’s government system!
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