Kinley Dorji comments on last week’s exchange where the civil servants of one of the world’s smallest emerging democracies hoped to draw important lessons from the experiences of the world’s largest democracy.

The meeting at the banquet hall

19 October, 2007 -

The GNH perspective

The premise of such discourse is the inspiration of His Majesty the fourth Druk Gyalpo’s vision that Bhutan must develop a system that is best for Bhutan. One of the Indian experts called this “one of the most daring experiments undertaken today,” another said it was an expression of faith in the people.

The perspective of such a mandate is that, as dramatic as today’s political transformation is, we are not replacing our system. We are building on it. Democracy is not the goal. It’s a path to good governance, to help us achieve our broader goal of Gross National Happiness. While the word “democracy” has now become a brand name for socio-political change, we interpret it as a path to our own development objective, GNH.

Such a perspective can truly be understood if we understand the essence of GNH.

Gross National Happiness is not a promise of happiness. Happiness, as we learn in Buddhism, is an individual pursuit. We look inside ourselves for happiness because there is no external source of happiness. Therefore, GNH is a mandate of the state, a responsibility of the government, to create the right environment for our citizens to seek happiness.

His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in his wisdom, envisioned parliamentary democracy as the path to good governance, which is one of the pillars of GNH. In His Majesty’s own words, this means that “destiny lies in the hands of the people”. This resonates beautifully with democracy because democracy, in its purest form, is the empowerment of the people. GNH requires that every citizen, to achieve happiness, be empowered to make the right decisions. So this becomes a collective responsibility.

We have asked our King … why?

The simple and clear answer was that a small and vulnerable country like Bhutan must not be left in the hands of one individual who is chosen by birth and not merit. We need a system and a democratic constitutional monarchy is the best system today.

We also asked our King … why now?

His Majesty said that the best time for change is when everything is going well. We have peace and stability, our national security is assured, and His Majesty made it a point to remind us that our relations with our closest friend and neighbour, India, has never been better.

The democratization perspective

So now we are faced with this phenomenal challenge. We are excited. We are deeply reflective. We are more than a little disconcerted and concerned.

We sit together in our thoughts at a time when we celebrate 100 years of peace and prosperity because of a successful Monarchy. It comes on the eve of our first parliamentary elections. And it comes as we celebrate the enthronement of our King.

As we reflect on this change, we are searching deeper within ourselves. We are contemplating the relationship between our civil servants, politicians, media, civil society, private sector, and people.

The six eminent friends from India had much to share. Bhutanese civil servants had the opportunity to listen to a group of experts who hold the highest positions in the Indian civil service and who have their fingers on the pulse of India’s mature and vibrant democracy. As they candidly shared their real life experiences, they not only shared India’s success but its failures, from which there was much to learn and much to reflect on.

These resource persons reminded the gathering of Bhutanese civil servants that democracy cannot be imposed. It has to come from within.

As we institutionalize the democratic process, as we introduce the mechanics and structures of democracy, we know that we are yet to develop a democratic ethos. We know that laws, and even a Constitution, cannot create a democratic culture.

There can be a vast gap between good governance and actual participatory democracy and good governance is not synonymous with government. In fact there is no necessary or intrinsic relationship between democracy, understood in an institutional and procedural sense, and good governance, understood as a goal.

It was very reassuring for Bhutanese bureaucrats to learn that the experts from India found and spelt out the catchphrases in our Constitution that represent the eight ingredients for good governance. The Constitution has clear guidelines for the development of a professional bureaucracy.

The civil servants’ perspective

The gathering was also reminded that democracy and corruption are often concomitant. Therefore, as vested interests grow in Bhutan, it is important that we maintain the effort to preserve our long-held priorities, like our environmental legacy that is enshrined in GNH.

Many Bhutanese people are developing an intuitive distrust of politicians. It was important, therefore, that the Indian experts emphasized the important role of politicians in government. We should grow above this elitist view and respect the important role of politicians. Some of the best leaders in the Bhutanese civil service have taken on themselves the responsibility to join politics to serve the nation in a new capacity.

The resource persons also talked about the role of opposition in a democracy, the structure as well as the concept. They talked about the planning process. They reminded the gathering that it was a responsibility of educated civil servants to educate the people and to make sure that the people understood their rights.

Civil servants are not custodians of the government but a team of professionals that serves the people. It is important that they respect the people as well as the elected politicians who carry the mandate of the people. Overall, they must be professional, maintain a high standard of intellectual integrity, and be objective in providing feedback to politicians.

Through it all there was much talk of the relationship between senior and junior bureaucrats. It was important, for a society that will be governed by the people, to go beyond seeing each other as seniors and juniors. As it is, Bhutanese civil servants feel a little traumatized when their young children ask, “Daddy, what grade are you in?” It is time to hang up our hang-ups and be people rather than officials.

Being “apolitical” is apparently a burning issue. Although the ECB has clarified its stand on being apolitical, the best message to civil servants was that they should not lose sleep over the issue and use common sense. Do not join parties and do not promote political parties. At the same time, they should not feel guilty about their personal political feelings and leanings.

In a small country like Bhutan, if a senior civil servant becomes “X’s man or Y’s man” by aligning themselves with politicians, it would mean that entire ministries and organisations will be politicized.

The bureaucracy needs rules and regulations and institutions to function but, ultimately, all bureaucrats have to make moral and ethical decisions. They must stand by their principles and maintain their professional dignity. At the same time, ideology is going to be an issue but people cannot be idealistic. Practical considerations play an important role in good governance.

The discussions were a powerful reminder that, in the end, systems are only as good as the people who run them. This places the responsibility on bureaucrats as professionals. And that is the heart of GNH, the responsibility of the individual for public well being.

Bhutan has decided to learn the best of all other systems. As we learn from India’s success it is also important to ask, why are so many Asian democracies in trouble today? It is important to look around and understand why.

The discourse

Last week’s discourse was an important initiative and there is an urgent need for such discourse. It is important that Bhutanese society understands the concepts of democracy in a real sense so we are able to adopt and adapt them as Bhutan builds it own unique system.

There was a lively media session last week. Democracy and good governance both depend, at their very core, on transparency. Without transparency, we can have neither democracy nor good government although the two are not, by any means, synonymous. The civil service was advised to “engage” the media and not ignore them because the media is on a one-way growth street.

The lively exchange that the resource persons from India inspired ended on a highly optimistic note. There is no template for democracy but the visitors saw many strengths in the Bhutanese system, notably the clear vision of the leadership and the strong relations that existed between the government and people. In many ways Bhutan is more ready to run a government than India was, not too long ago, when the India established a democratic government.

As a small society, that exists as an extended family, Bhutan is dealing with new situations and new tensions today. At a time when politics is getting more adversarial and personalised, we appreciate the advice that we should view the political journey as a “grand adventure”. We remember the words of His Majesty the King who said that we have the luxury today of making mistakes and correcting them.

Moving with hope

Today we have the most professional team of civil servants in Bhutanese history. The 150 civil servants who attended the meeting represent the machinery that will help take Bhutan into the future. The Royal Civil Service Commission has been working for months, with the guidance of His Majesty the King, to place the right people in the right places. They are men and women who are selected for their qualifications, experience, and their capability.

This is also a team of civil servants which has taken on, as a sacred duty, the responsibility to understand and fulfill the role of the bureaucracy in the democratic process to help achieve Bhutan’s dream of building a happy society.