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The
Political System
Bhutan has been an independent Kingdom for centuries
and is ruled by a hereditary monarch since 1907. The
present King, His Majesty King Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, initiated many reforms of the political
system, the most significant being that he
relinquished his post as the Head of the Government
during the 76th National Assembly in 1998. His
Majesty is now the Head of the State.
Members of the National Assembly are composed
of 150 elected members and use to meet once a year
for a month but now twice in a year. It is a
legislative body and discusses concerning the
country and also passess laws and acts.
Council of Ministers is elected by the
National Assembly for a term of five years and holds
executive power. It is composed of the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs, Finance, Health & education,
Communication, Agriculture, Home & Cultural Affairs
and Trade & Industries. The chairman of the council
of Ministers is the head of the Government, a post
that rotates on annual basis among the Ministers.
The Minister who gets the highest number of votes
will be the first Chairman of the council of
Ministers and the post rotates following the
sequence of the votes.
The Royal Court of Justice presided by a
Chief Justice and composed of Judges together with
the district courts, forms the judiciary body in the
country. District courts operate at the district
level while at the village level; the headman acts
as a first level of conciliation process.
The country is composed of twenty districts (Dzongkhags)
each headed by a provincial governor called Dzongda.
Since the decentralization process, which started in
1981, a lot of importance and full authority,
especially in the field of development and local
activities, has been given to the district and rural
areas namely the DYT (Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogchung)
at the district level and GYT ( Gewog Yargay
Tshogchung) at the village/block level. During
Bhutan's 9th Five Year plan (2002-2007) all
development plans and activities are to emanate from
and be implemented at the village/block level.
The government has started steps to decentralized
further by giving more initiatives to the village
assemblies, presided by the elected Gup ( Village
Headman) In today's Political System, Gups and
Chimis ( People Representatives) play a very vital
role in the development at the village level. They
are bridge between the people and the Government.
Dzongda used to be a Chairman of the DYT but now the
elected Gups and Chhimis have taken over the post.
They by all means are the voice of the people in and
out of the National Assembly.
A chief Operations Officer with the rank Lt. General
heads the security forces, compromising of the army,
Police and Royal Body Guards.
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