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The people of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan shocked even themselves on Monday, voting for stability and experience in their first ever parliamentary polls but overwhelmingly rejecting a party led by the king's uncle.
This was not a vote against the much-loved king of Bhutan or a century of royal rule - many people had said they were reluctant to embrace democracy, and the winner of the elections, Jigmi Thinley, was himself a staunch royalist.
But the scale of his victory, winning 44 of the 47 seats on offer according to provisional results announced by the election commission, sent subtle messages which will reverberate around this deeply traditional and conservative land. "It is truly amazing," said Palden Tshering, spokesman for Thinley's Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT). "The people really have made the decision."
The present king's uncle Sangay Ngedup even lost in his own constituency. If the king had to stand aside, the people of Bhutan seem to be saying, they are not sure they want his many relatives by marriage to take over. "They have given the government to the public now," said one voter who declined to be named, in a country still not used to criticism of the elite or political discourse.
"The youth must have chosen." The winner, Thinley, was a former prime minister under royal rule, a man closely associated with gross national happiness, the former, fourth king's idea that economic development be balanced by respect for traditions and the environment.
His team included two other former prime ministers and two ex-finance ministers. Turnout was recorded at 79.4 percent, with more than 250,000 people casting their votes.
Early in the morning, long queues formed at polling stations near the capital Thimpu. Sad to see the king stand aside, many people said they were warming to the idea of democracy. The election is the latest step in Bhutan's slow process of modernisation and development. In 1960, it had no roads and practically no schools or hospitals.

Copyright Reuters, 2008

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