Related Research Articles
The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts. Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia.
LyonpoKhandu Wangchuk is a political figure in Bhutan. He graduated from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi. He was Chairman of the Council from 2001 until 2002. On 7 September 2006, he became Prime Minister again; he was then replaced by Kinzang Dorji on 2 August 2007, after Wangchuk resigned to participate in the 2008 election as a member of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) political party. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2007.
The Royal Bhutan Army is a branch of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Bhutan responsible for maintaining the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty against security threats. The King of Bhutan is the Supreme Commander in Chief of the RBA. The Chief Operations Officer is Goonglon Gongma Batoo Tshering.
Elections in Bhutan are conducted at national (Parliamentary) and local levels. Suffrage is universal for citizens 18 and over, and under applicable election laws. In national elections, political party participation is mainly restricted to the lower house of Parliament, and by extension, to the executive nominated by its majority.
Censorship in Bhutan refers to the way in which the Government of Bhutan controls information within its borders. There are no laws that either guarantee citizens' right to information or explicitly structure a censorship scheme. However, censorship in Bhutan is still conducted by restrictions on the ownership of media outlets, licensing of journalists, and the blocking of websites.
National Assembly elections were held in Bhutan for the first time on 24 March 2008. Two parties were registered by the Election Commission of Bhutan to contest the elections; Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, led by Jigme Y. Thinley, which was formed by the merger of the Bhutan People's United Party and All People's Party, and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). A third political party, the Bhutan National Party (BNP), had its application for the registration refused.
The Bhutan Observer was Bhutan's first private bilingual newspaper. It was launched as a private limited company by parent company Bhutan Media Services (BMS), and began publishing on June 2, 2006, in Thimphu. Its Dzongkha edition was called Druk Nelug, and the newspaper maintained an online service in English until 2013.
The development of Bhutanese democracy has been marked by the active encouragement and participation of reigning Bhutanese monarchs since the 1950s, beginning with legal reforms such as the abolition of slavery, and culminating in the enactment of Bhutan's Constitution. The first democratic elections in Bhutan began in 2007, and all levels of government had been democratically elected by 2011. These elections included Bhutan's first ever partisan National Assembly election. Democratization in Bhutan has been marred somewhat by the intervening large-scale expulsion and flight of Bhutanese refugees during the 1990s; the subject remains somewhat taboo in Bhutanese politics.
Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering is a Bhutanese politician who served as minister for foreign affairs between 2008 and 2013.
Capital punishment in Bhutan was abolished on March 20, 2004 and is prohibited by the 2008 Constitution. The prohibition appears among a number of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution; while some fundamental rights—such as voting, land ownership, and equal pay—extend only to Bhutanese citizens, the prohibition on capital punishment applies to all people within the kingdom.
This is a timeline of Bhutanese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Bhutan and its predecessor states.
Taxation in Bhutan is conducted by the national government and by its subsidiary local governments. All taxation is ultimately overseen by the Bhutan Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue and Customs, which is part of the executive Lhengye Zhungtshog (cabinet). The modern legal basis for taxation in Bhutan derives from legislation. Several acts provide for taxation and enforcement only germane to their subject matter and at various levels of government, while a smaller number provide more comprehensive substantive tax law. As a result, the tax scheme of Bhutan is highly decentralized.
The Bhutanese local government elections of 2011 were originally slated for 2008, but were delayed until 2011. Elections began on January 20, 2011, however polls opened in only 3 of 20 districts – Thimphu, Chukha District (Phuentsholing), and Samdrup Jongkhar – as part of a staggered election schedule. Polls closed June 27, 2011. Ahead of elections, 1,042 chiwogs, the basis of Bhutan's single-constituency electoral scheme, were slated to elect the leadership of Dzongkhag, Gewog, and Thromde governments.
Public holidays in Bhutan consist of both national holidays and local festivals or tshechus. While national holidays are observed throughout Bhutan, tsechus are only observed in their areas. Bhutan uses its own calendar, a variant of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar. Because it is a lunisolar calendar, dates of some national holidays and most tshechus change from year to year. For example, the new year, Losar, generally falls between February and March.
The Bhutan People's Unity Party, also called Druk People's Unity Party (PUP), is a former Bhutanese political party. It was founded by regional and national cadres serving in Bhutan's pre-democratic government. Led by former minister (assemblyman) Yeshey Zimba, BPUP then merged with the stronger All People's Party (APP), headed by former and future prime minister Jigme Y. Thinley; the two parties unified as the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa on 25 July 2007. Both the BPUP and APP had been registered with the Election Commission.
The military history of Bhutan begins with the Battle of Five Lamas in 1634, marking Bhutan's emergence as a nation under the secular and religious leadership of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Before Bhutan emerged as a separate nation, it remained on the periphery of Tibetan military and political influence. The region that became Bhutan was host to several battles and waves of refugees from turmoil in Tibet. After its founding, Bhutan was invaded numerous times by outside forces, namely Tibetans, Mongols, and the British. Bhutan meanwhile invaded its traditional tributaries in Sikkim, Cooch Behar, and the Duars.
HIV/AIDS in Bhutan remains a relatively rare disease among its population. It has, however, grown into an issue of national concern since Bhutan's first reported case in 1993. Despite preemptive education and counseling efforts, the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases has climbed since the early 1990s. This prompted increased government efforts to confront the spread of the disease through mainstreaming sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV prevention, grassroots education, and the personal involvement of the Bhutanese royal family in the person of Queen Mother Sangay Choden.
There are a number of environmental issues in Bhutan. Among Bhutan's most pressing issues are traditional firewood collection, crop and flock protection, and waste disposal, as well as modern concerns such as industrial pollution, wildlife conservation, and climate change that threaten Bhutan's population and biodiversity. Land and water use have also become matters of environmental concern in both rural and urban settings. In addition to these general issues, others such as landfill availability and air and noise pollution are particularly prevalent in relatively urbanized and industrialized areas of Bhutan. In many cases, the least financially and politically empowered find themselves the most affected by environmental issues.
Lotay Tshering is a Bhutanese politician and surgeon who is the current Prime Minister of Bhutan, in office since 7 November 2018. He has also been the president of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa since 14 May 2018.
References
- 1 2 Penjore, Ugyen (2007-07-25). "Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, the New Party in Town". Kuensel online. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- 1 2 Penjore, Ugyen (2007-07-11). "Another Merger". Kuensel online. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
- ↑ PIPS - Pakistan Institute For Peace Studies (SouthAsiaNet - SOUTH ASIA)
- ↑ Penjore, Ugyen (2007-03-24). "The Race is On". Kuensel online. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ↑ "First General Elections in Bhutan". Pratiyogita Darpan. 2 (24): 169. September 2008. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
| Current parties | |
|---|---|
| Former parties | |
| Banned parties | |
  | This article about a Bhutanese political party is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |