Bhutan’s king relinquishes total power with historic vote (TODAYonline)
A Bhutanese polling officer inspects a polling center in the village of Kabesa, on the outskirts of Thimphu. Bhutan stands poised to become the world’s newest democracy on Monday with historic polls ordered by its revered royal family to end their absolute rule over the mountainous kingdom

Bhutan’s king relinquishes total power with historic vote (Channel NewsAsia)
THIMPHU : Bhutan stands poised to become the world’s newest democracy on Monday with historic polls ordered by its revered royal family to end their absolute rule over the mountainous kingdom.

Bhutanese face subtle choices in first election (Reuters.co.uk)
PUNAKHA, Bhutan (Reuters) - The people of Bhutan face some subtle choices in their first parliamentary elections on Monday, choices that underline the changes democracy is bringing to this traditional Himalayan kingdom.

Landmark elections begin in remote Bhutan (TODAYonline)
A Bhutanese man comes out of the Election Commission office in Thimphu on March 21. Voting began in the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan Monday, in elections that will select the country’s first ever democratic government and mark the end of absolute royal rule by the revered Wangchuk dynasty.

Bhutan uneasy with democracy (The Monterey County Herald)
THIMPHU, Bhutan — The command came from the king, as commands normally do in a nation where royalty has ruled for a century.

Historic polls set to begin as Bhutan ends royal rule (TODAYonline)
A Bhutanese man comes out of the Election Commission office in Thimphu on March 21. Voters in this isolated Himalayan nation were set on Monday to elect the nation’s first democratic government and end a century of royal rule by the revered Wangchuk dynasty.

Bhutan’s king has willed democracy — like it or not (Arizona Daily Star)
THIMPHU, Bhutan — The command came from the king, as commands normally do in a nation where royalty has ruled for a century. But when the Precious Ruler of the Dragon People spoke that day, he stunned this deeply isolated corner of the Himalayas: The age of monarchs is ending, he said, and power should be yours.

Historic polls set to begin as Bhutan ends royal rule (AFP via Yahoo!7 News)
THIMPHU (AFP) - Voting began in the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan Monday, in elections that will select the country’s first ever democratic government and mark the end of absolute royal rule by the revered Wangchuk dynasty.

Post-feudal twist: Bhutan’s king gives up power and embraces democracy, but response is tepid (The Standard-Times)
THIMPHU, Bhutan — The command came from the king, as commands normally do in a nation where royalty has ruled for a century. But when the Precious Ruler of the Dragon People spoke that day, he stunned this deeply isolated corner of the Himalayas:…

Bhutan tries to measure happiness (AFP via Yahoo!7 News)
THIMPHU (AFP) - For years, the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan boasted that it was mostly concerned with Gross National Happiness — and now it’s really going to try to actually measure it.

Election machinery up and running

The people who will ensure a free, fair and successful election

23 March, 2008 - Forty-four-year-old Jigme Thinley had everything set: a sleeping bag, travel backpack, food items, clothes, trekking shoes and, essentially, the electronic voting machines, before he left for his polling centre.

Trashigang on the eve of E-Day

All’s in place for a peaceful polling

23 March, 2008 - Close to 700 polling officers, presiding officers, and security personnel reached their respective polling stations on March 21, in Trashigang in preparation for the first parliamentary election on March 24.

Election Day is upon us
22 March, 2008 - Bhutan is set to go to polls on Monday to elect 47 of 94 candidates to the National Assembly and determine whether the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa or the People’s Democratic Party forms the country’s first elected government.

Will the postal ballot be pivotal?
22 March, 2008 - About 45 percent of the 36,313 registered postal voters will have to go to their respective polling stations to vote if they want to make a difference in National Assembly elections on March 24.

Sangay Ngedup most likely a shoo-in in Kabji-Talo

PDP’s Sangay Ngedup and DPT’s Tshering Penjor

NA ELECTIONS - PUNAKHA 22 March, 2008 - The People’s Democratic Party must win in Kabji-Talo constituency from Punakha. This is, by and large, the general feeling in the constituency, especially among party’s supporters and also many observers.

Toss-up between youth/age in Nubi-Tangsibji

DPT’s Nidup Zangpo and and PDP’s Kaentsho Sampai Dendup

NA ELECTIONS : TRONGSA 22 March, 2008 - If there is one constituency where the two candidates contesting for a seat in the National Assembly share an excellent rapport, it is in Nubi-Tangsibji of Trongsa dzongkhag.

WHO?
22 March, 2008 - Modern political science questions whether average citizens anywhere in the world have sufficient political information to cast meaningful votes. The general consensus is that only a handful of voters are sophisticated enough to truly understand politics and to base their votes on sound political analysis.

Bankers face off in water politics

DPT’s Chencho Dorji and PDP’s Tsencho Dorji

NA ELECTIONS - PARO 22 March, 2008 - They both have the same names, worked as bankers, were in the same college, worked in the same city of Phuentsholing for some time and are also good friends.

DPT does some catching up
NA ELECTIONS : SAMTSE 22 March, 2008 - A few months ago when the candidates and the party presidents of the two political parties were on their familiarisation tour of Samtse’s four constituencies, the vote bank was leaning more towards the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Shoring up support in Shompangkha
NA ELECTIONS - SARPANG 22 March, 2008 - Candidates of political parties contesting from Shompangkha constituency under Sarpang dzongkhag and their supporters spent the last days of their campaign going from door to door to meet voters.

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