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| Ladies queueing up to cast their vote |
Bhutan
went to the polls on July 13, 2013 and voted to power the opposition – People’s
Democratic Party (PDP). The erstwhile ruling party – Druk Phuensum Tshogpa
(DPT) will be the reluctant shadow to the government.
An election
often brings out major changes. If the incumbent party returns to power, there
won’t be major changes. However, major changes can be expected if the
opposition who has been baying for blood for the last 5 years wins an election.
After all, nothing can affect the citizenry more than a change in government.
Politicians
are wont to make promises and pledges during the electioneering period.
Sometimes, it sounds and reads like a competition of who can promise louder,
never mind the do-ability and implementability of pledges. The newness and
relevance of the pledges provide the clues for change.
The
Bhutanese electorate is maturing rapidly, but it is still naïve and emotion
laden. This is evident from the victory it handed out to DPT in the primaries
and the drubbing it bestowed on the ruling party in the general elections –
both within a time period of about six weeks. Ever heard of a better voter
swing?
No
matter who wins an election, the counting of the ballot is usually followed by emotional
let down and explosive reactions. The shaping up of events after July 13 must
be seen in this light. How politicians react and behave after the final results
separate the leaders from the rest. In such cases, the opposite of leader is
not follower. When all followers vie for the limited leadership space, both the
leader and his followers behave more like a pack of hungry hyenas. Just like
the loud-mouthed animals that move in packs and eat rotten, the vanquished in
an election start laughing (i.e crying) very loudly. The idea is to gather all
the like-minded together and try and snatch the kill from the tiger! It is a
common and basic advise that if you want to be a leader you got to act like
one. You can’t act like a hyena and aspire to be the lion.
The moment
after the ballots are counted can be overwhelming to many, especially the aged,
the over-involved, and the self-perceived invincible. It is then that we hear
of highly prophetic views as, ‘the unimaginable happened’. Anyone who cannot
imagine his own defeat is least prepared for victory. He reeks of arrogance and
is highly impolite to his opponent who beat him.
Actually
you don’t fault politicians for the way they behave and communicate after
losing an election. They are struck by, what psephologists and behavioral
scientists call the ‘Post-Election Stress Syndrome. The disease seems to renders
losers quite incapable and depraved of the grey matter in the aftermath of an
election.
Within
a short span of democratic traditions, Bhutan has already experienced a highly stressful
election because of numbing news fatigue and continual media over-exposure.
Yet, one worries that the real problems may be yet to come. Personal anxiety,
professional panic and poorly thought out decisions may be on the horizon
regardless of the campaign period high mood.
The heat
is yet to subside and the dust has not fully settled on Bhutan’s second
parliamentary elections. Has it taken rather long? The day after tomorrow on the auspicious nineteenth
day of the sixth month of the water female snake year, His Majesty the King
will formally pronounce Tshering Tobgay as the second prime minister of
democratic Bhutan by offering the sacred dakyen.
Soon after that, the cabinet will be announced and the new government will be
raring to go. One hopes that the reluctance of the DPT to sit as the opposition
party will have fully dissipated by then and that it will be ready to support PDP
to steer our land into the next strategic 5 years. The PDP, DPT, you, I, and
indeed all the Bhutanese people will have a role to play. We are a team and
together everyone achieves more!
