Bhutan has banned anyone without a university degree from standing in its first ever parliamentary elections in 2008.
As the kingdom steps towards democracy only degree-holders can contest in the polls
GUWAHATI: Bhutan has banned anyone without a university degree from standing in its first ever parliamentary elections in 2008, a move which would bar more than two thirds of the current, unelected assembly.
Bhutan’s Chief Election Commissioner, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi, said candidates married to a foreigner would also be barred from the contest, as the remote Himalayan kingdom steps gingerly towards democracy and away from absolute monarchy. The new rule will make more than 100 members of the present 150-strong National Assembly ineligible for the deeply traditional Buddhist country’s first election.
“We would like the parliament of Bhutan to be a very dynamic one as it would be the only law-making body to decide important issues of great national significance,” Wangdi said from the capital Thimphu. “Therefore we want every member to have at least a university degree,” he said.
Bhutan’s King Jigme Singye Wangchuck has been slowly pulling his mountain state into the modern world and plans to relinquish much of the monarchy’s power.
A new constitution has been drawn up and is expected to be formally adopted this December. The king will then stand down in favour of his son in 2008, when parliamentary elections will also be held and the monarchy will celebrate its centenary.
Presently National Assembly includes 104 representatives nominated by village and town councils, 10 cabinet ministers, 10 members of the Buddhist clergy, 23 civil servants, one representative of the armed forces and two from the business community. Only 41 are graduates, Wangdi said.
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