An unwanted election in Bhutan

http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10907641&top_story=1

Democracy comes to the tiny Himalayan kingdom

STREAMING down mountain paths in their best national costume, thousands of Bhutanese turned out to vote in their country’s maiden election on Monday March 24th. Early estimates suggested that over 72% of some 320,000 registered voters had cast a ballot—a triumph for civic educators in the fastidiously-ministered Himalayan kingdom.

Of two political parties contesting the poll—both led by a former prime minister—the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) won with a landslide. Voters may have approved of the many former ministers among its candidates: there being little else to choose between the DPT and its rival, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Leaders of both the parties have said they would prefer to have remained under the former monarchic system. Many voters said they were casting a ballot—with a heavy heart—simply because this was the wish of their recently-abdicated ruler, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk.

Few elected governments could boast of the king’s record. Accelerating a reform process begun by his father, whom he succeeded in 1972, the king transformed Bhutan from one of the world’s most reclusive poor countries to one of its more enlightened.