BHUTAN: The king of Bhutan has said he will step down as ruler in 2008 when the tiny Himalayan kingdom holds its first national election and becomes a parliamentary democracy.
"I would like our people to know that the first national election to elect a government under a system of parliamentary democracy will take place in 2008," King Jigme Singye Wangchuck (50) is reported as saying.
He made the remarks recently at a public rally in the remote town of Trashi Yangtse, a three-day drive from the capital, Thimpu, according to a transcript posted in the Kuensel newspaper yesterday.
In March the king, who is revered by his people as a god, published a draft constitution which aims to establish a two-party democracy in the mountainous kingdom, sandwiched between India and China, after nearly a century of absolute monarchy put in place in 1907 by the British, who then ruled India.
King Jigme announced that he would immediately begin handing over responsibility to Crown Prince Dasho Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck (25), who like his father, is a keen basketball player and footballer.
The prince, the oldest of the king's five children, would be enthroned as the fifth Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) in 2008, the king said. However, he did not elaborate on what form the new government would take and also provided no specifics on how much power the palace would retain.
With a population estimated at anywhere between 700,000 and 2.2 million, Bhutan has no political parties and is largely resistant to the outside world. It has allowed access to few foreigners fearing they would damage its ancient culture and carefully-preserved environment.
Earlier this year Bhutan became the world's only country to ban smoking anywhere in public.
In recent years around 6,000 Western tourists a year have been allowed entry to Bhutan on exorbitantly expensive visas after which they are shepherded around the kingdom on supervised tours.
The king has directed his poor but beautiful country gradually toward modernisation, taking selectively what he wants from the modern world - television came only a decade ago - and establishing a "gross national happiness" index, which he believes is more important than gross domestic product.
Many Bhutanese have been indifferent to the move to democracy and expressed fears that it could lead to corruption akin to other South Asian countries.
But the king said now was the best time to move on. "The best time to change a political system is when the country enjoys stability and peace," he said.