Bhutan heralds first day as democracy

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THIMPHU, Mar 25 (AFP): Bhutan awoke Tuesday as the world's newest democracy, after a landslide election win for a party led by an ex-premier who has pledged to boost development -- and happiness -- in the Himalayan nation.
Almost 80 per cent of Bhutanese voters, urged on by their beloved 28-year-old monarch who often appeared more keen to bring down the curtain on a century of absolute monarchy than his subjects, participated in Monday's historic polls.
The landmark vote was first proposed by Bhutan's royal family to peacefully transform the small Buddhist kingdom, wedged in the mountains between massive neighbours India and China, into a constitutional monarchy.
The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) or Bhutan United Party made an unexpected clean sweep by winning 44 of the total 47 seats for the lower house in what had been seen as a tight two-party race, the country's election commission said.