“As you approach the duty of voting at the elections that will bring democracy, do so with pride and confidence. This transition is a Bhutanese transition.”

Twenty-eight-year-old King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk of Bhutan couldn’t have put it more aptly. For, when his country votes tomorrow for its first democratically elected parliament, it will be a transition that the world has rarely seen before: a monarchy of its own will setting the stage for a government chosen by the people. An election which the King has himself ordained for his people, and in which he, other members of the royal family and those belonging to important religious institutions, cannot participate under the Constitution.

Bhutan looks set to respond to the King’s words in kind. Thimphu hotels, usually crowded with international tourists, are empty these days. Most of the hospitality staff have left for their villages to cast votes. In the valley, a majority of the 45,000 residents have left for their respective villages — many in extremely remote areas — to exercise their franchise. About the only remaining population in the some constituencies are their registered voters.

Bhutan’s transition to democracy after 1,000 years of hereditary monarchy was set in motion by the present King’s father, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuk. He started a phased movement towards democracy earlier this decade, and tomorrow’s election formally marks an end to absolute monarchy and the beginning of a constitutional democracy.

A 318,465-strong electorate spread across 47 constituencies in 20 Bhutan districts, holding photo identity cards, will elect 47 candidates to the National Assembly, out of 94 contestants in the fray. It’s a one-on-one battle on all the seats as only two parties registered themselves for the first-ever electoral battle — the People Democratic Party (PDP) and the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa.

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