New Delhi: Bhutan was a monarchy until recently. Now that they are a fledgling democracy, with the King initiating democratic reforms, they thought they could learn from the world’s largest democracy and indeed from its temple – the Indian Parliament.
But what they saw perhaps left them shell shocked. Shouting MPs, displaying of placards, throwing things at each other (shoes and chairs included), a disturbed Speaker trying to calm the House down and resulting in adjournment almost every half an hour. All this despite the Upper House speaker telling the MPs while introducing the Bhutanese delegates, that they are here to learn from the Indian Parliament.
Ultimately they may have thought that they may be better off without it!
The Bhutanese parliamentary delegation led by Lyonpo Jigme Zangpo, Speaker of National Assembly of the Parliament of Bhutan and the chairperson of the National Council of Bhutan, Sonam Kinga visited the Rajya Sabha on Monday. They are on a four-day visit in India.
After introducing the delegates, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari said, “We hope in their stay here they can learn more about the Parliamentary system.” The MPs immediately burst into laughter, fully aware, that the Parliament has been in gridlocks for weeks, ever since the Monsoon session began on July 21.
An unidentified voice even asked: “Why did you add that line, Sir?”
The delegation, whether in amusement or embarrassment, kept smiling and looking at each other. A little over half a decade ago, the Bhutanese formed their first elected parliament. In 2011, the election commissions of Bhutan and India signed a memorandum of understanding for the “promotion of exchanges of knowledge and experience in electoral processes,” among other things.
