As Bhutan completes 10 years of democratic constitutional monarchy, political parties came together to share their thoughts on the state of Bhutanese democracy.
Organised by the Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) in collaboration with the Royal University of Bhutan and the Bhutan Democracy Dialogue, the forum was conducted to provide an interactive space for leaders, people and the media to exchange ideas and views on democracy.
It was also to give the people and political parties the much-needed open space in the election year for a healthy discussion on policies, issues, and national priorities.
“This is a year of election, so we thought it is very important to find a space or to create a space where people can come and talk about politics and democracy because this should be upper most in all our minds as elections take place,” Siok Sian Pek Dorji, the Director of BCMD, said.
“We also know there are very few public forums where the citizens, young people, people in the media and even youth can come and meet with the people from the party to listen to their views and also be able to ask them questions about the issues that they are concerned about.”
Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party President Dasho Neten Zangmo shared experiences of her 11 months of political life. Sharing her thoughts on the state of Bhutanese democracy, she expressed concerns over poor women participation in elections and stressed the need to improve the status quo.
Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa President Dr. Tandi Dorji said democracy is not just about voting. He added Bhutan is ranked at 99th place in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy index, and this, he said is an indication of the Bhutanese democracy faring well.
DPT spokesperson Lily Wanggchuk said democracy in Bhutan is a gift from His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and therefore Bhutan has every reason to not only celebrate but also expand every resource it has to nurture a unique democracy in its truest sense and fulfill His Majesty’s vision for Bhutan.
People’s Democratic Party’s Damcho Dorji said Bhutan’s democracy has been successful within a very short period of time and attributed the success to years of constant nurturing of democracy by the country’s successive monarchs.
