For ages Bhutan was ruled by monarchs and in 2008 this is going to change. Bhutan is going to hold its first ever general election in 2008. Now, Bhutanese authority is drafting a set of rules for the election process. One important matter is the guidelines for qualifications of the candidates. Kuenselonline.com reported:
“The Election Commission of Bhutan has proposed that the minimum qualification for Member of Parliament (MPs) as a Bachelors Degree. If approved most of the present group of people’s elected representatives, chimis, cannot stand for election to the parliament.
Asked what would happen to the present parliamentarians, Dasho Kuenzang Wangdi said that the Constitution of Bhutan created a level playing field. “We are talking about a democratic constitution monarchy. The ground rules are set and players themselves will have to shape up.”
This sounds radical for a country like Bhutan. Bhutan does not have a high literacy rate and in fact, the country has just 3,000 graduates out of 600,000 people. One may argue that by this system, Bhutanese election commission is going to make most people ineligible to contest the election. On the other hand, those people who support this idea would argue that by this way, Bhutanese election commission would ensure that skilled and educated people get elected. Also, I think that Bhutanese example may influence some other countries in South Asia.
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