In March 2008, Bhutan ended its century-old system of absolute monarchy in favour of parliamentary democracy. This was a significant decision for a state that had always fought against democracy, claiming that it would damage the well-preserved culture and traditions of the isolated kingdom. Yet today, a year after the historic polls, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (the son of the monarch who originally made the decision to democratise) retains many of his political powers, including the authority to directly interfere in government activities and to reject decisions of the elected Parliament. The fact that people can now use their franchise and criticise the government is certainly a major achievement for Druk Yul. But taking stock of the first year of democracy in Bhutan, it must be said that far less has been achieved than initially expected.
There were certainly large promises made. During the campaign last year, the now-ruling Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) party propounded a philosophy of economic development and poverty alleviation, backed by the country's omnipresent official ideology of Gross National Happiness. After a year in power, however, there has been no visible progress in achieving any one of these goals, with not even a single development project having been approved by the DPT government. What is more, those projects already underway have been either delayed or halted outright, such as the construction of the second international airport in the southern town of Gelephu.
The decisions that have been made have been of questionable help to the mass populace. Even with consumers hemmed in between an economic crisis and rising prices, in January Prime Minister Jigme Thinley's government decided to raise the salary of government employees by an average of 35 percent (and as high as 61 percent for some). As this move was made with seemingly no assessment of the prevailing economic environment, it has since added fuel to uncontrolled inflation of about nine percent, the highest ever recorded in Bhutan. This is particularly important in light of the fact that inflation had hit its highest point in October-November, three months before the decision was made to raise salaries.
Moreover, while self-reliance is one of the aims of the Gross National Happiness perspective, the country's dependence on grants increased in the past year. During 2008, India alone announced financial assistance of INR 100 billion; nonetheless, Thimphu continued to ask donors to fund development projects, with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Austria and Denmark subsequently extending support. Meanwhile, the government failed to support the private sector by, for instance, making available additional capital or postponing the debt-repayment schedule. Around half a dozen industries were forced to close down during this period, and Thimphu seems unmindful of the increasing unemployment problem. Much of this current situation may well have its roots in the global economic downturn, but it has also shown the new government to be hesitant and, more worryingly, perhaps even incapable of following through on its own professed ideals of self-reliance.