ASIA:'Divine' rule ends as Nepal and Bhutan espouse democracy, writes Rahul Bediin New Delhi
The two surviving south Asian monarchies of Nepal and Bhutan are drawing to a close following decades of "divine" rule.
Nepal's King Gyanendra awaits his eventual fate at the hands of a virulently republican constitution, due to be finalised after national elections in mid-2007.
"With the decision to transfer the role of Nepal's head to the prime minister, the monarchy has now become obsolete," Kapil Shrestha, a political science professor at Nepal's Tribhuvan University, said. Gyanendra has no other option at this time than to remain silent and wait for the constituent assembly decision, he added.
In neighbouring Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who ruled the secluded Buddhist kingdom for over three decades, abdicated at the weekend in favour of his son Jigme Kesar Namgyel, a year earlier than announced in 2005.
In his first public statement on Sunday, the newly anointed 26-year-old Oxford-educated king declared that he was committed to his father's plan of surrendering much of the monarchy's power in 2008 following Bhutan's first elections, which will make it a parliamentary democracy.
"Our responsibilities will always be, first and foremost, the peace and tranquillity of the nation, the sovereignty and security of our country, fulfilling the vision of gross national happiness and strengthening the new system of democracy," Jigme Kesar Namgyel said.
Last December, the outgoing king, revered by his people as a god, published a draft constitution that aims at establishing a two-party democracy in the Himalayan kingdom - sandwiched between India and China - after nearly a century of absolute rule, initiated in 1907 by the British. He has gently directed his poor but beautiful country gradually towards modernisation, picking what he wants from the modern world. Television came only a decade ago.
He also established the concept of a "gross national happiness" index, which he believes is more important than gross domestic product.
With a population estimated at anywhere between 700,000 and 2.2 million, Bhutan is an idyllic country.
It has no political parties and is resistant to influences from the outside world, rarely letting in foreigners until recent years, fearing they would "pollute" its ancient culture and carefully nurtured environment.
Last year it became the world's only country to ban smoking anywhere in public.
Only around 6,000 western tourists a year are allowed entry to Bhutan, on exorbitantly expensive visas, after which they are shepherded around the kingdom on carefully supervised tours.
Many Bhutanese, however, remain indifferent to the move to democracy and expressed fears that it could lead to corruption akin to that of other south Asian countries
Meanwhile, Nepal's ruling alliance and Maoist rebels approved on December 16th the draft of an interim constitution, a key step to implement their landmark peace deal ending the decade-long Maoist insurgency for a republic that has claimed more than 12,000 lives.
"The prime minister will carry out the work of the head of state and the king will have no right in state affairs," communist leader Bharat Mohan Adhikary said.
Republican sentiment proliferated after King Gyanendra (59) sacked the government and seized direct power in February 2005 in what he said was a bid to crush the runaway Maoist rebellion.