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| Buddha_Lal | Posted
on 17-Dec-02 12:37 AM
Baburam from Nepal, Rizal from Bhutan, what are they upto! A himali awakening, finaly? This one from http://www.newslookmag.com/regions/bhutan/tnr_interivew.htm Will demoracy work in Bhutan, afno khutama afain bancharole haneko ta haina. It did not work in Pakistan, and now in Nepal. BHUTAN Tek Nath Speaks Out After a relative calm of over two years following his release from jail, Bhutanese dissident leader Tek Nath Rizal is all set to reenergize the democratic movement in the reclusive Eastern Himalayan Kingdom even as King Wangchuk has created considerable amount of political noise by declaring to abdicate his power in favor of a constitutional monarchy. By Dharma N. Adhikari Bhutan is once again in the news. As always, the Thimpu regime has added yet another facet to its celebrated news making talent. This time round, the message from the restive, little dragon is this: No more despotism, for democracy is sure to follow. And, according to Bhutanese stalwarts in government and bureaucracy, it is not just democracy rather it is a ‘substantive’ democracy and a constitutional monarchy that is to be adopted. Democracy in Bhutan may be sure to follow, but it is not clear from the media cacophony what it is about to follow and how substantive it could be. Nothing follows from a following. What the purported people’s rule may embody is at best hazy. Come King Jigme Singhe Wanchuk’s 47th birthday on Tuesday, December 17, a draft of the Kingdom’s constitution will be presented to him. Conjectures abound, though that the extensive re-write of 1953 Royal Decree may be given the form of the first written Constitution of the Kingdom, whatever its implications for democracy and popular rule. Without any transparent and representative deliberation on the draft of the constitution, skepticism as to whether and how Bhutan may be on the path to substantive democracy pervades the opinions of observers, particularly among dissidents in Nepal. The international media, as known Bhutan-maniacs, have time and again applauded the arrival of ‘modernity’ in the hermit kingdom, and now the advent of democracy. Again, less clear is what the said modernity or democracy constitutes and wherefrom it is arriving. |