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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quick to offer congratulations and “unflinching” support to the head of the victorious People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on the night it won Bhutan's election, setting the course straight for warm bilateral ties with Thimpu after subsidy withdrawal gaffes had introduced an element of discontent.
Singh congratulated Tshering Tobgay while promising India's "steadfast and unflinching support" to the fledgling democracy with which it has a “special relationship.” He assured Tobgay, due to assume the office of Prime Minister by the end of the month, that New Delhi would remain "sensitive to Bhutan and its interests".
In his congratulatory message on sunday, the PM said "India is a privileged partner of Bhutan and it's people in their socio-economic progress and development. Our bilateral ties are anchored in a strong foundation of trust, mutual confidence and understanding. I wish to reiterate India's undiminished commitment to Bhutan in preserving these unique and special traditional ties. India is, and will remain, sensitive to Bhutan and its interests".
India had cut off the kerosene and cooking gas subsidy to Bhutan last month because the 10th Plan, for which India was providing such assistance, expired on June 30. Admitting that the timing of the subsidy withdrawal was badly timed, senior officials said India would work through the problem with the new government as soon as by the end of the month, when Bhutan’s new government will assume office.
The subsidy withdrawal, called “unwise and ill-timed” by former Indian envoy to Bhutan Pavan Varma, had propelled India to the centre-stage of the political campaign.
PM Singh also said he had instructed his officials to "prepare for the discussions on our plan assistance to Bhutan" very soon.
The Bhutan Election Commission (BEC) formally submitted the list of 47 winners of the country's second national elections to King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, culminating the first stage of the democratic process in the Himalayan nation in which Tshering Tobgay-led PDP secured a two-thirds majority.
The country's new opposition party Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT – Bhutan peace and prosperity party) led by former Prime Minister Jigme Thinley won 15 members in the House. The peaceful elections were marked by a heavy voter turnout of 80 per cent. This is the second national polls in Bhutan after the country became a democracy in 2008, before which it was a monarchy.
Formation of the new government will take some time as there is a "petition period" of 10 days. During this period, any aggrieved candidate or party may lodge a complaint before the BEC over the election results and the poll panel will analyse the complaint before giving its ruling.
"So, new government will assume charge only when the petition period will be over," BEC chief election officer Phub Dorji told PTI.
47-year-old PDP chief Tobgay is expected to assume charge as Prime Minister within a fortnight. Bhutan turned into a democracy from a monarchy in 2008 when DPT party, headed by Jigmi Y Thinley, captured power for the first time with 45 law makers. The PDP then got only two seats. Bhutan has a tri-cameral Parliament of the King, National Council and National Assembly. National Council is upper house and has 25 members of whom five are appointed by the King while 20 others are elected from 20 districts.
National Assembly or lower house consists of 47 members elected from 47 constituencies. Three women candidates also won this time of whom PDP's Dorji Choden, 53, is poised to become the first woman minister in the country's history.
India provided logistical support for the election, gifting 4,130 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to Bhutan while Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath witnessed the democratic process in the Himalayan nation as an observer.
India and Bhutan have long shared a ‘special’ relationship signified by their treaty of friendship first signed in 1949 and later revised in 2007. The revised treaty was occasioned by the impending turn to parliamentary democracy in Bhutan and placed the two countries on a substantially more equal footing with both sides agreeing to “cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests” instead of Bhutan being “guided” by India “in regard to its external relations.”
New Delhi's Subsidy Gaffe in poll-bound Thimpu
Normally impeccably correct diplomats of the Indian External Affairs Ministry have admitted they got the timing badly wrong with Bhutan, the one all -weather friend New Delhi can claim. An ill-advised "accounting decision" by the Indian establishment, to halt subsidies on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to its closest ally, on the eve of Bhutan's parliamentary elections, has placed India squarely in the middle of the pre-election political discourse. And a great deal of the commentary in Thimpu has not been flattering.
Although Bhutan accounts for almost half the MEA's total development partnership assistance (fixed in the just concluded tenth plan at Rs 3600 crore or around 645 million dollars; and this is excluding the big ticket hydel power projects), and almost a third of the foreign ministry's entire budget, the decision to stall the payment of subsidies on these widely consumed petroleum products on june 30, barely two weeks before Bhutan's second parliamentary elections, has generated considerable heartburn in Thimpu, throwing up a variety of 'big brother' accusations.
It is unclear how the establishment in New Delhi failed to see the obvious outcome of such a decision bang in the middle of a politically charged election campaign. India cut off the cooking gas subsidy on a technical reason, using the lapsed agreement with Bhutan, which expired on June 30, and found itself in the midst of political crossfire.
Official sources in New Delhi admitted that "we could have timed it better," while former Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, Pavan K Verma, was scathing in his criticism of the decision, calling it ill-timed and unwise.
“We should have waited till a new government took charge there and negotiated with them. If I was the advisor, I would have never advised such an unwise decision,” Verma said during an interaction at the Observer Research Foundation. "If this happened without planning, we need to look at our handling of foreign policy," Varma said. "But if this was planned, this was certainly not the time to do it. Bhutan is a special neighbour and in the middle of elections.
Scrambling for cover, official sources in New Delhi tried to explain the situation by reiterating the importance of that country to India, with which it shares a "very special relationship." The sources said Bhutan was temporarily even without a budget since June 30, and budget-making would be among the key priorities of the new government, due to be voted in on Saturday (july 13).
New Delhi would "work closely with the new government on the gas subsidy" and would "sort out all these issues," the sources said, denying that attempts by the outgoing Bhutanese government to enter into a dialogue with the Chinese government had anything to do with the decision.
Sandwiched between neighbouring giants China and India, Bhutan has, since 1949, shared a unique relationship with New Delhi, allowing it practically to exclusively oversee its foreign policy and security while agreeing to assume its finances and development. The Bhutanese monarchy has played a significant role in nurturing this “special relationship” with India, which traditionally has enjoyed widespread popular support in that country.
Bhutan does not have any diplomatic ties with China. The outgoing Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) party government has tried to widen Bhutan's presence on the international radar by establishing diplomatic missions in 52 countries.
India has tried to foster the fledgling democracy in its neighbour and provided 1,935 electronic voting machines to Bhutan for the country's second national elections.
Bhutan has a tri-cameral parliament comprised of the King, the National Council and the National Assembly. There are 25 seats in the National Council or upper house. Five of them are appointed by the King and 20 elected from 20 districts. The National Assembly or lower house is made up of 47 members elected from 47 constituencies. Representatives to both houses were elected first in 2008, after the former monarch, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, opted to move and guided the tiny Himalayan kingdom towards democratic rule.
The DPT is the ruling party in Bhutan while the major opposition party is the People's Democratic Party (PDP). A total of 94 candidates are contesting for the 47 constituencies where polling will be held on Saturday.
Nilova Roy Chaudhury is Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Review of Global Affairs.