Rhythms of Democracy
Bhutan’s democratisation process gets further strengthened this month, at least for public consumption, when the country holds the first election to elect people’s representatives to local bodies.
The first elected government of Jigme Thinley, on assuming office in early 2008, had promised to hold the local elections by the end of that year. However, technical difficulties, legal flaws and lack of infrastructure delayed the democratisation process by almost three years. The government concentrated less on strengthening democracy at the people’s level and more on telling the world that the country has set in motion its democratic process.
Despite delays, the Election Commission announced last month that people would vote for their representatives in category A municipalities (thromde) in the first phase of the local elections. Election dates for category B municipalities, other town committees and villages have not been confirmed yet. On Jan. 21, people are slated to elect 29 representatives—seven 7 each in Gelephu, Samdrup Jongkhar and Phuentsholing and eight in the capital Thimpu—including one mayor each (thrompon) for these towns.
The functional literacy test, which was a prerequisite for candidates to take part in the elections, hindered the whole process. In addition, mayoral candidates have to submit their university certificates and all the contestants have to prove that they are not affiliated to any political party. As a result, there are very few candidates in the field. Political awareness, experience in administration and good public relations are not the essential qualities that local government representatives in Bhutan will have as per the new rules. Rather, a person just able to read and write can serve the people well, Bhutanese law assumes.
This opened the door for people from the younger generation to enter politics, which had been the call from young monarch Jigme Khesar, 30. Only a few people from the older generation who served in government offices have expressed their willingness to participate in the elections. Everyone’s eyes are set on the race for mayor, a post that attracted qualified people. It’s also because mayors have been offered a basic monthly salary of Nu 44,175 besides free accommodation or a house rent allowance amounting to 20 percent of the basic pay and a mobile voucher allowance of Nu 1,000 per month, among others.
On the other hand, candidates for municipal council members are rare. Many constituencies have no candidates. In several places, there are lone candidates. Voters will just say yes or no, the kind of election observed during the National Council elections two years ago.
A meagre salary of Nu 2,000 a month discouraged many aspiring candidate to contest the Tshogpa seat. Despite requests, the pay commission recommended no salary revision for them. The government said, taking note of the budget shortage, that council members would have to be satisfied with their pay for now. Chief Election Commissioner Kunzang Wangdi in a press meet clearly said that his office was worried at the shortage of candidates for council members as a result of the government’s unwillingness to pay them a good salary.
The local government election also lacks an agenda. Most candidates have not spoken about their agenda. Young candidates raised and schooled outside their constituencies seem to be confused about what their town really needs. Urbanisation, balanced development, garbage, township expansion, housing, trade, drugs, security clearance and schools are some major challenges the newly elected representatives will have to address during their term. Though the campaigning has already begun, the candidates have not
spoken what they would do if elected. Conversely, the voters are unaware that the choices have to be made based on the candidates’ agenda and plans.
There are several other flaws which would hinder strengthening democratic values at the people’s level. The ECB has not updated the voters list and the people have not been adequately educated about their rights and responsibility to take part in the process. For instance, Phuentsholing, a town of 30,000 people, has only 603 registered voters.
In Samdrup Jongkhar, only 700 are eligible to vote among its population of 10,000. Democracy is for people’s participation in governance which is expressed through periodic elections. If all the citizens are not entitled to exercise their right to vote, it cannot be imagined that democracy will flourish.
The other bitter observation is that two candidates from a single constituency are not allowed to contest the seat for mayor. As such, under ECB initiation, the people of one of the constituencies in Gelephu gathered late December to give their initial vote for the mayoral candidate. They voted for Namgay, 49, former chief district officer of Chukha who served as Gelephu sub-divisional officer for three years, over former zonal health officer Dr. Karma Wangchuk, 54, as their mayoral candidate. This is how ECB is curtailing the citizens’ right to vote and obtain votes.
Further, it is difficult to get nominations registered. As one of the candidates said, “There’s a lengthy bureaucratic process and it’s difficult to meet the relevant officials.”
Despite these glitches, Bhutan has taken another step to empower the people to have their say in governance. The lone election process cannot serve to strengthen democracy; the elected representatives will have to prove they will serve all the people without any prejudice. The initial assessment shows that politics under the new system in local government will also be dominated by the Dzongkha-speaking community. It is essential that all are given equal opportunities and treatment regardless of their ethnicity.
The announcement for local government elections comes amid the revelation by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of Bhutan’s improved democracy index. Bhutan scored 4.68 points and has been ranked 102nd out of 167 countries. In 2008, Bhutan was in the 109th position with 4.30 points.
Bhutan’s improvement in the ranking is mainly due to better scores in the electoral process and pluralism and functioning of the government. However, the scores in political culture and civil liberties have remained unchanged at 4.38 and 3.53; but the score in political participation has increased from 3.33 to 3.89. It is certain that the local government elections will give Bhutan additional points in political participation. However, the Bhutanese people, at this hour, are in need of real political and civil liberties to ensure that they feel the rhythms of democracy.