Reuters,  Guwahati, India

Bhutan will hold its first-ever general election on March 24, the Election Commission said on Thursday. Bhutanese will vote to elect 47 members to the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, as the tiny Himalayan kingdom switches to democracy after a century of absolute monarchy.

The mainly Buddhist country has been preparing for democracy ever since former monarch Jigme Singye Wangchuck decided to hand power to an elected government, even as many of his citizens said they were quite happy with the way things were. Only two parties have met the criteria set by the Election Commission — the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (the Virtuous Bhutan Party) and the Peoples Democratic Party — to take part in the election.

'As far as I understand it there will not be much difference in issues between the two parties,' said Tashi Dorji, editor of Bhutan Observer in Thimphu. Both are likely to promise better roads, schools and hospitals and more reliable electricity, he said.

Parties must submit their letter of intent, list of candidates, copies of their manifestos and audited financial reports to the Election Commission by January 22. Candidates must be college graduates, which means only a tiny minority of this nation of monks and farmers is eligible to run. Many are expected to be teachers, doctors and civil servants.

Bhutanese elected members to the upper house of parliament, known as the National Council, in December. In those polls, and in the elaborate mock elections held even earlier, some Bhutanese, especially younger voters, said they were looking forward to new jobs and opportunities being created as the country develops. But others said they were voting only out of a sense of duty to the monarchy. Some said they were nervous that their country might be spoiled by the changes ahead.

The monarchy, now headed by Wangchuck's Oxford graduate son, King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, remains popular in Bhutan, partly because of its policies focused on boosting what it calls "gross national happiness'.

As recently as the 1960s, Bhutan had no roads and practically no schools or hospitals. Today education and healthcare are free, and life expectancy has risen to 66 years from less than 50.

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