Bhutan holds general election as economic crisis hits ‘national happiness’
Al Jazeera
Both parties in fray committed to constitutionally enshrined philosophy of government measuring success by ‘happiness’.
The picturesque Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is set to hold a general election with serious economic challenges calling into question its longstanding policy of prioritising “Gross National Happiness” over growth.
Both parties contesting Tuesday’s vote are committed to a constitutionally enshrined philosophy of a government that measures its success by the “happiness and well-being of the people”.
Some voters are expected to trek for days to cast their ballots in the landlocked and sparsely populated country, similar in size to Switzerland.
Foremost in the minds of many are the struggles facing the kingdom’s younger generation, with chronic unemployment and a brain drain of migration abroad.
“We don’t need more new roads or bridges,” farmer Kinley Wangchuk, 46, told AFP news agency. “What we really need is more jobs for young people.”
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