Bhutan Watch

A high-profile case involving the supreme court justice dominated the news outlets of the country for the majority of the year. The personal collusion between a lady and army chief was tagged as mutiny and criminal conspiracy. Where females are treated as incompetent compared to their male counterparts, sentencing a lady on a charge of mutiny is contentious.

On the political front, the governing party DNT has gradually cornered the opposition DPT with the likely intention to kill it by the next election, scheduled for 2023. Since anti-king sentiments outpoured at the party’s gathering after the 2013 election, the palace has taken calculated steps to finish DPT at any costs. Other parties have become the instruments. 

Political participation of women and other minority communities remains very low due to a lack of government initiatives for positive outcomes.

Women and girl children continue to face the wrath of masculinity – sexual abuses and rapes. The safety of girls is at risk. There are no government interventions despite the seriousness of the issue. The safety of women and girls is not the priority of any successive government. The solution is focused on jail terms for perpetrators where possible – rather than seeking long-term solutions through women empowerment and social awareness through education. 

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the economy to the brink. Unless any revolutionary programmes are launched, the economy is likely to take years to repair. The government-imposed restriction challenged the general life and treating citizens like criminals for minor violations of orders has questioned the very tenets of humanity in Bhutan.

Unemployment has increased. Failure of the government to create employment opportunities provided good grounds for the palace to take advantage and present itself as the rescuer of an unemployed new generation. The initiative from the palace ‘Gyalsung’ has overtaken the constitutional mandate of an elected government. It may create some jobs, but it will undermine the authenticity of the elected government, and question the ceremonial role of the monarchy and ultimately people’s faith in democracy. If the intention was pure and sincere, the palace could have operated such a programme within the purview of the government and strengthened the democratic values.

This report covers the incidents between 1 January and 31 December of 2021. Read full report here