I talk about the government system of Bhutan including its monarchy, executive and legislative systems and how they all work as well as how elections work.

1. February 4,
2020
The Government System of Bhutan
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-bhutan/
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.
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2. 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
Emblem of Bhutan
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
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3. who sit in the upper house of parliament cannot be a part of parties and must be non-
partisan.
Monarchy and Executive Government
Tashichho Dzong. Photo by Bgag on Wikimedia. License.
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
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4. 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.
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5. 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.
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6. 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
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7. Bhutan District boundaries. Photo byNordNordWest from Wikimedia. License.
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.
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8. 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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