Royal decree on democracy

Scenes such as the great unwashed lining up to vote for a free and fair democratic election as in this article are such we will never see in the adjacent country where human rights abuse is the norm.

The monarchy recently had a change of guard from father to enlightened son who has moved toward democracy by royal decree.

The fifth king, ... urged all his people to exercise their franchise in a statement issued at the weekend, and the Bhutanese people do not ignore a royal command

Seems the locals are overawed with the change, but are going along for the ride.

We are very excited to vote because it is going to make a big difference to our country

There are two main parties and also a militant Nepali contigent hell bent taking over Bhutan in play. The militants have been blocked at the border for the elections, while

The parties' manifestoes are almost identical, both based on "His Majesty's vision" of gross national happiness or GNH, the idea that economic growth be balanced by respect for traditions and the environment.

Now that is a nice touch. Possibly we will need a large dose of GNH when we suck up to those murdering Chinese signing away our souls in a week's time without a whimper for the pursuit of money.