Portrait of a Leader
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Continuing Customs of Negotiation and Contestation in Bhutan
Continuing Customs of Negotiation and Contestation in Bhutan Adam Pain and Deki Pema∗∗ Introduction A concern for the maintenance of traditional values and customs in the processes of modernisation within Bhutan is evident in much of Bhutan’s official documentation. The fundamental importance given to the maintenance and fostering of Buddhism, its beliefs and associated institutions reflected in Bhutan’s rich culture, is constantly returned to and emphasized in commentary. Thus the establishment of the Special Commission for Cultural Affairs in 1985 “is seen as a reflection of the great importance placed upon the preservation of the country’s unique and distinct religious and cultural traditions and values, expressed in the customs, manners, language, dress, arts and crafts which collectively define Bhutan’s national identity” (Ministry of Planning, 1996, p.193). Equally the publication of a manual on Bhutanese Etiquette (Driglam Namzhag) by the National Library of Bhutan was hopeful that it “would serve as a significant foundation in the process of cultural preservation and cultural synthesis” (Publishers Forward, National Library, 1999). One strand of analysis that could be pursued concerns the very construct of “traditional” and what is constituted as “within” or “without” that tradition. As Hobsbawm (1983) reminds us with respect to the British Monarchy, much of the ceremonial associated with it is of recent origin. Equally national flags, national anthems and even the nation state, are, as Hobsbawm would have it, “ invented traditions” designed largely to “ inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with ∗ Research Fellow, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia & Planning Officer, Policy & Planning Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Thimphu 219 Continuing Customs of Negotiation and Contestation in Bhutan the past” (op. -
A Historical Background of the Chhoetse Penlop∗ Dorji Wangdi+
A Historical Background of the Chhoetse Penlop∗ Dorji Wangdi+ The institution of the Chhoetse Penlop (later called Trongsa Penlop) is more than 350 years. It was started by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1647 after he appointed Chhogyel Minjur Tenpa as his representative in Trongsa. This royal institution with a unique blend of mythology and history represents Bhutan’s past. The Trongsa Dzong was founded by Yongzin Ngagi Wangchuk (1517-1554), the son of Lam Ngawang Chhoejay. According to the legend, Ngagi Wangchuk was guided in a vision by Palden Lhamo, the guardian deity of the Dragon Kingdom, to go to a place in central Bhutan which resembled a bow and which was abundant in food grains (mang-dru). The name Mangdey has its origin in this word. Accordingly, Pal Ngagi Wangchuk arrived at Trongsa in 1541 where he took residence in the village of Yueli which was located on the northern hill-slopes overlooking the then bare hillock upon which the Trongsa Dzong is presently located. One night when Pal Ngagi Wangchuk was meditating in Yueli, his attention was drawn by a flicker of light, resembling that of a butter-lamp burning in the open air, at the spot where the present day Goenkhang in the Trongsa Dzong is located. Upon visiting the spot, he was deeply overwhelmed by discovery of Lhamoi Latsho (a sacred lake of Palden Lhamo) and the hoof prints of Palden Lhamo’s steed. In 1543, Pal Ngagi Wangchuk established a small tshamkhang (meditation quarter) in the sacred spot brought ∗ This is a longer version of the paper printed in Kuensel, Vol XIX No. -
In Pursuit of Happiness, Bhutan Opens to Globalization and Business
In Pursuit of Happiness, Bhutan Opens to Globalization and Business Kimberly A. Freeman, Ph.D. Mercer University Katherine C. Jackson Mercer University ABSTRACT The Kingdom of Bhutan, a small country situated on the border between China and India, has in recent years become a constitutional democratic monarchy. As part of its 2008 constitution, Bhutan committed to promote conditions that would enable the pursuit of Gross National Happiness. The country thus initiated an effort to improve the quality of life and happiness for its citizens and has embraced globalization far more than previously through attracting business, tourism, and communications. The author’s herein address some of the initiatives provide the context within which these efforts have arisen. Keywords: Bhutan; Gross National Happiness (GNH); Globalization; Constitutional democratic monarchy 1. Introduction In 2006, the 4th King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided he wanted to open Bhutan up to the world and usher in modernization. Forty years ago, in 1972, Bhutan’s fourth king stated that “Bhutan should pursue Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than Gross National Product (GNP)…with an emphasis not only on economic growth, but also on culture, mental health, social values, compassion, and community” (Sachs, 2011, p. 2) He chose to abdicate the throne to his eldest son and announced Bhutan would hold its first general elections in 2008. His son, King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, took the throne of the new democratic Bhutan on December 14, 2006. Jigme Yoser Thinley was elected prime minister in the election, and Bhutan’s constitution was ratified on July 18, 2008. The concept of GNH has a very long history in Bhutan. -
The Kingdom of Bhutan
Updated March 23, 2020 The Kingdom of Bhutan Background were best served by elected leaders. The first election went The Kingdom of Bhutan, also known as the Land of the smoothly in 2008, and the second, in 2013, brought a Thunder Dragon, is a small, landlocked Himalayan country situated between India and China. The mountainous Figure 1.Bhutan in Brief kingdom is about half the size of Indiana, with an estimated population of 782,000, approximately 115,000 of them in and around the capital city, Thimphu. Bhutan’s economy has grown primarily as a result of hydropower, agriculture, and forestry development. The United States has no significant trade relations with Bhutan, and its foreign aid mission and bilateral consular affairs are handled by the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan visited Bhutan in August, 2019. Bhutan has participated in a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) regional program for South Asia directed at developing power infrastructure, and it has implemented programs intended to help mitigate some of the effects of climate change. With 70% forest cover and extensive hydropower, Bhutan is a carbon negative country. The Constitution, Elections, and the King The constitution of Bhutan establishes three branches of Source: CIA World Factbook, Economist Intelligence Unit, Media government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The bicameral legislature, or Chi Tshog, includes the National Assembly (Tshogdu), with 47 elected representatives, and peaceful transition of power in which the opposition the National Council (Gyelyong Tshongde), with 25 People’s Democratic Party won 32 of the 42 elected members, 5 of which are selected by the king. -
Zhemgang Dzongkhag
༼ར꽼ང་ཁག་རྐྱེན་ངན་འ潲ན་སྐྱོང་དང་འབྱུང་፺ས་པ荲་ཐབས་ལམ་འཆར་ག筲།༽ Dzongkhag Disaster Management and Contingency Plan Dzongkhag Administration, Zhemgang ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN 2020 DISASTER MANAGEMENT & CONTINGENCY PLAN OF ZHEMGANG DZONGKHAG [2] Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY _________________________________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ________________________________________________________________________________ 4 ACRONYMS __________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 SCOPE: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 OBJECTIVES: ________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE DZONGKHAG ___________________________________________________________ 7 BACKGROUND _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 SOCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROFILE________________________________________________________________________ 8 FIGURE 1 – ORGANOGRAM OF DZONGKHAG ADMINISTRATION __________________________________________________ 12 1.3: WEATHER AND CLIMATE _________________________________________________________________________________ 14 1.4: DEMOGRAPHY ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 1.5 ECONOMY _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 CHAPTER 2: DZONGKHAG DISASTER MANAGEMENT -
Proceedings and Resolutions of the 70Th Session of the National Assembly of Bhutan
PROCEEDINGS AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE 70TH SESSION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF BHUTAN. I. OPENING CEREMONY The 70th Session of the National Assembly of Bhutan began with the hallowed tradition of Shugdrel Ceremony on the first day of the ninth month of the year of the Iron Sheep corresponding to 8th October, 1991. In his opening address, the Speaker of the Assembly, Dasho Passang Dorji, welcomed His Majesty the King and all the representatives of the Central Monk Body and Rabdeys, ministers and officials representing the Royal Government, and the representatives of the public. He stated that this most auspicious occasion which had enabled the King, Government and People to assemble in the Great Hall of the National Assembly to deliberate upon matters of great importance to the country was due to the age-old and timeless blessings of the Revered Guru Ugyen Rimpochey, and the most Venerable Lineage of Lamas of the Kagyu tradition established by the great spiritual ruler Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel to whom the nation would forever be indebted. Secondly, he said it was due to the boundless merit of the nation’s most revered sovereigns, His Majesty the King and the preceding monarchs. Thirdly, it was due to the good fortune, loyalty and unity of all the people. The Speaker reminded the House that since the months of September and October of the year 1990, the ngolops in the south had perpetrated acts of high treason, wanton destruction of life and property and senseless acts of terrorism to shatter the peace and tranquility of the country. -
Pdf Banco Mundial
Estudios de Asia y África ISSN: 0185-0164 ISSN: 2448-654X El Colegio de México A.C. Rodríguez-Calles, Luis Breve historia de Bután. Una identidad y un horizonte común en torno a la felicidad como objetivo político Estudios de Asia y África, vol. 54, núm. 2, Mayo-Agosto, 2019, pp. 373-390 El Colegio de México A.C. DOI: 10.24201/eaa.v54i2.2434 Disponible en: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=58660239007 Cómo citar el artículo Número completo Sistema de Información Científica Redalyc Más información del artículo Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal Página de la revista en redalyc.org Proyecto académico sin fines de lucro, desarrollado bajo la iniciativa de acceso abierto ESTUDIOS DE ASIA Y ÁFRICA, VOL. 54, NÚM. 2 (169), 2019, PP. 373-390 ISSN 0185-0164 e-ISSN 2448-654X CULTURA Y SOCIEDAD https://dx.doi.org/10.24201/eaa.v54i2.2434 Breve historia de Bután. Una identidad y un horizonte común en torno a la felicidad como objetivo político A brief history of Bhutan. An identity and a common horizon around happiness as a political objective LUIS RODRÍGUEZ-CALLES* Resumen: Se hace un repaso histórico de los acontecimientos más re- levantes ocurridos en el territorio que ahora pertenece a Bután, en el periodo que llega a la instauración de una monarquía hereditaria a principios de siglo XX. En un cuadro se resumen esos acontecimien- tos. Así se pretende dar luz al periodo histórico más desconocido del país con objeto de complementar otros análisis académicos sobre la felicidad, el budismo y las particularidades del modelo de desarrollo en Bután. -
Ngoedrup-Tse
The Ngoedrup-Tse Volume II Issue I Bi-Annual Newsletter January-June 2019 A Note from Dzongdag His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo Birth Anni- Within the last two years of my association with the versary Celebration Chhukha Dzongkhag as the Dzongdag, I have had several opportunities to traverse through different Gewogs, interact with diverse group of people, and listen to their personal stories and aspirations they have for themselves and the nation. These are precious moments that, I feel comes only once in our career, and that too if we happen to serve in Dzongkhags and Gewogs! Many of my colleagues echo similar feelings on their return from field visits. On my part, I had a great privilege to sensitize people on their rights and responsibilities as a citizen of this great nation with particular emphasis on their constitutional Chhukha Dzongkhag Administration celebrated the 39th Birth obligation to uphold and strengthen peace and security Anniversary of our beloved Druk Gyalpo at Chhukha Central of the country and our unique Bhutanese values School. The day started with lighting of thousand butter lamps and besides other policies, plans and programs of different offering of prayers at Kuenray of Ngoedrup-Tse Dzong at 7.30 am governmental agencies. led by Venerable Lam Neten, Dasho Dzongdag, Dasho Drangpon, Dzongrab, regional and sector heads for His Majesty’s good health Every day is a new beginning with opportunities and and long life. challenges that calls for learning, unlearning and relearning with ensuing diagnostic assessment and The Chief Guest for the memorable day was Dasho Dzongdag. -
The Kingdom of Bhutan Health System Review
Health Sy Health Systems in Transition Vol. 7 No. 2 2017 s t ems in T r ansition Vol. 7 No. 2 2017 The Kingdom of Bhutan Health System Review The Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (the APO) is a collaborative partnership of interested governments, international agencies, The Kingdom of Bhutan Health System Review foundations, and researchers that promotes evidence-informed health systems policy regionally and in all countries in the Asia Pacific region. The APO collaboratively identifies priority health system issues across the Asia Pacific region; develops and synthesizes relevant research to support and inform countries' evidence-based policy development; and builds country and regional health systems research and evidence-informed policy capacity. ISBN-13 978 92 9022 584 3 Health Systems in Transition Vol. 7 No. 2 2017 The Kingdom of Bhutan Health System Review Written by: Sangay Thinley: Ex-Health Secretary, Ex-Director, WHO Pandup Tshering: Director General, Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Health Kinzang Wangmo: Senior Planning Officer, Policy and Planning Division, Ministry of Health Namgay Wangchuk: Chief Human Resource Officer, Human Resource Division, Ministry of Health Tandin Dorji: Chief Programme Officer, Health Care and Diagnostic Division, Ministry of Health Tashi Tobgay: Director, Human Resource and Planning, Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan Jayendra Sharma: Senior Planning Officer, Policy and Planning Division, Ministry of Health Edited by: Walaiporn Patcharanarumol: International Health Policy Program, Thailand Viroj Tangcharoensathien: International Health Policy Program, Thailand Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies i World Health Organization, Regional Office for South-East Asia. The Kingdom of Bhutan health system review. -
The Judiciary of the Kingdom of Bhutan
The Judiciary of the Kingdom of Bhutan THE JUDICIARY OF THE KINGDOM OF BHUTAN HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - The Bhutanese legal system has a long traditional background, primarily based on Buddhist natural law and Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal’s Code from early 17th century. The first comprehensive codified laws known as the Thrimzhung Chhenmo or the Supreme Law was enacted by the National Assembly during the Third Druk Gyalpo, His Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck’s reign. MISSION, POLICIES & OBJECTIVES - The Judiciary aims to safeguard, uphold, and administer Justice fairly and independently without fear, favour, or undue delay in accordance with the Rule of Law to inspire trust and confidence and to enhance access to Justice. INDEPENDENCE - Among others, the independence of the Judiciary is manifested through: (a) Separation of judicial power from the apex to the lowest court; (b) Collective independence (the concept of non-interference, jurisdictional monopoly, transfer jurisdiction, control over judicial administration); (c) Institutional and financial independence; (d) Personnel independence (qualification, selection and training, conditions of services, suspension, removal and disciplinary measures. Security of tenure and protection from arbitrary removal from office); (e) Decentralization of all personnel administration and financial operations to respective courts; and (f) Distinctive court building, distinct kabney and court seal. JURISDICTION The Royal Court of Justice The judicial authority of Bhutan is vested in the Royal Courts of Justice comprising the Supreme Court, the High Court, the Dzongkhag Court and the Dungkhag Court. Other courts and tribunals will be established from time to time by the Druk Gyalpo on the recommendation of the National Judicial Commission. Additional Benches are established in some Dzongkhags and Dungkhags with higher caseload. -
Bhutan's Political Transition –
Spotlight South Asia Paper Nr. 2: Bhutan’s Political Transition – Between Ethnic Conflict and Democracy Author: Dr. Siegried Wolf (Heidelberg) ISSN 2195-2787 1 SSA ist eine regelmäßig erscheinende Analyse- Reihe mit einem Fokus auf aktuelle politische Ereignisse und Situationen Südasien betreffend. Die Reihe soll Einblicke schaffen, Situationen erklären und Politikempfehlungen geben. SSA is a frequently published analysis series with a focus on current political events and situations concerning South Asia. The series should present insights, explain situations and give policy recommendations. APSA (Angewandte Politikwissenschaft Südasiens) ist ein auf Forschungsförderung und wissenschaftliche Beratung ausgelegter Stiftungsfonds im Bereich der Politikwissenschaft Südasiens. APSA (Applied Political Science of South Asia) is a foundation aiming at promoting science and scientific consultancy in the realm of political science of South Asia. Die Meinungen in dieser Ausgabe sind einzig die der Autoren und werden sich nicht von APSA zu eigen gemacht. The views expressed in this paper are solely the views of the authors and are not in any way owned by APSA. Impressum: APSA Im Neuehnheimer Feld 330 D-69120 Heidelberg [email protected] www.apsa.info 2 Acknowledgment: The author is grateful to the South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), Brussels for the extended support on this report. 3 Bhutan ’ s Political Transition – Between Ethnic Conflict and Democracy Until recently Bhutan (Drukyul - Land of the Thunder Dragon) did not fit into the story of the global triumph of democracy. Not only the way it came into existence but also the manner in which it was interpreted made the process of democratization exceptional. As a land- locked country which is bordered on the north by Tibet in China and on the south by the Indian states Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, it was a late starter in the process of state-building. -
Hazards Or Hassles: the Effect of Sanctions on Leader Survival
Hazards or Hassles: the Effect of Sanctions on Leader Survival Online Appendix 10/17/2014 Contents 1. Leader Failure Coding ................................................................................................................ 1 2. Matching Procedure and Estimation of Ex Ante Risks ............................................................. 24 Estimating Ex Ante Risks ......................................................................................................... 24 Matching Procedure .................................................................................................................. 30 3. Control Variables in Main Analysis ......................................................................................... 37 4. Robustness Checks ................................................................................................................ 38 Trade Disputes vs. High Politics ............................................................................................... 38 Costs of Sanctions ..................................................................................................................... 51 U.S. Sanctions ........................................................................................................................... 54 Alternative Matching Schemes ................................................................................................. 56 Assassinations: .........................................................................................................................