Bhutan’s opposition party has swept to power in the Himalayan kingdom’s second-ever election due to voter concerns about the economy and the country’s famed “Gross National Happiness” index, analysts said Sunday.
Despite expectations of a neck-and-neck contest, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won a decisive 32 seats in the lower house of parliament, drubbing the incumbent Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) party which took just 15 seats.
The remote and rugged “Land of the Thunder Dragon” became a democracy just five years ago when the Buddhist line of “dragon kings” ceded absolute power, introducing democracy to the country of fewer than 750,000 people.
The elite-backed DPT stormed to victory in the first election in 2008 and won a primary ballot between four parties in May, taking home 45% of the vote against the PDP’s 33%.
But observers say the PDP made rapid late gains on growing financial woes, which were compounded by India’s recent decision to cut fuel subsidies to its northeastern neighbour and longtime ally.
“The basic message coming through is that people voted for change,” said an editorial by the national Kuensel newspaper after results from the polling stations, which saw a 66% turnout.
Bhutan is hugely reliant on India for investment and imports and the kingdom ran out of Indian rupee supplies last year on soaring demand, leading to restrictions on high-end imported goods and on bank loans.
“This victory was not surprising as the economy was going through a difficult time,” said MB Subba, editor of the Bhutan Today newspaper, who said private sector has been weakened by strict credit limits.
Bhutan is the only country in the world to measure Gross National Happiness (GNH), a development model that focuses on mental well-being and protecting Buddhist culture and the environment, as well as economic growth.
But voters were unhappy that former Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley at times seemed more interested in promoting GNH outside the country while there were problems at home, said Tenzing Lamsang at The Bhutanese newspaper.
The former government “took GNH too far, focused too much on it,” he told AFP, adding his belief that the new PDP leaders “will be more realistic in promoting GNH.”
