Bhutan began its first official and democratic parliament election Monday morning to prepare to end its 100-year-old monarchy and ushering in parliamentary democracy, according to the NDTV.
The NDTV said that 318,465 registered voters of its total population of 67,000 will vote to elect 47 parliament members seats, for which the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) are trying to win the majority.
Female voters outnumber the male by 3,873.
The voting began at 8 a.m. local time and is expected to end at 5 p.m. The result of the election will be published Tuesday morning.
The elections is the culmination of a plan by the fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who handed his crown to his young Oxford-educated son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in December 2006, to change with the times and relinquish absolute rule.
The former king had set the process in 2001 for Bhutan's transformation from an absolute monarch to a parliamentary democracy that led to the country having a new constitution.
Last year, Bhutan held two mock polls in April and May to familiarize people with voting and train officials for elections that will eventually pave the way for a democratic political party system.
Source:Xinhua
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