The Druk Gyalpo (; 'Dragon King') is the
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
of the
Kingdom of Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
. In the
Dzongkha language
Dzongkha (; ) is a Sino-Tibetan language that is the official and national language of Bhutan. It is written using the Tibetan script.
The word means "the language of the fortress", from ' "fortress" and ' "language". , Dzongkha had 171,080 n ...
, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as ''Druk Gyalpo'' ("Dragon King"), the Bhutanese people call themselves the ''Drukpa'', meaning "people of Druk (Bhutan)".
The current sovereign of Bhutan is
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 21 February 1980) is the Druk Gyalpo ( Dzongkha: Dragon King) of the Kingdom of Bhutan. After his ...
, the fifth ''Druk Gyalpo''.
He wears the
Raven Crown
The Raven Crown (Dzongkha: དབུ་ཞྭ་བྱ་རོག་ཅན་; Wylie: ''dbu-zhva bya-rog-can'') is worn by the Kings of Bhutan. It is a hat surmounted by the head of a raven.
History
The hereditary monarchy of the Wangchuck dy ...
, which is the official crown worn by the kings of Bhutan. He is correctly styled "''Mi'wang 'Ngada Rinpoche''" ("His Majesty") and addressed "''Ngada Rimboche''" ("Your Majesty").
King Jigme Khesar was the second-youngest reigning monarch in the world when he ascended the throne on 1 November 2008 after his father,
Jigme Singye Wangchuck
Jigme Singye Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་སེང་གེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 11 November 1955) is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan (Druk Gyalpo) from 1972 until his abdicati ...
, abdicated the throne in his favour.
[
]
Duties and powers
The Constitution confirms the institution of monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
. The Druk Gyalpo (King of Bhutan) is the head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
and the symbol of unity of the kingdom and of the people of Bhutan. The Constitution establishes the " Chhoe-sid-nyi" (dual system of religion and politics) of Bhutan as unified in the person of the kingwho, as a Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, is the upholder of the Chhoe-sid (religion and politics; temporal and secular).[ In addition, the king is the protector of all religions in Bhutan.][Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 3 The king is not answerable in a court of law for his actions, and his person is sacrosanct.[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 2 However, the king is mandated to protect and uphold the Constitution "in the best interest and for the welfare of the people of Bhutan".
Royal prerogatives
Under the Constitution, the king, in exercise of his royal prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...
s (and as head of state), promotes goodwill and good relations with other countries by receiving state guests and undertaking state visits to other countries. The king may also award titles, decorations, ''dar'' for Lhengye and Nyi-Kyelma (conferring a red scarf of rank and honour with the title of "Dasho
Dasho ( Dzongkha: དྲག་ཤོས; Wylie: ''Drag-shos'') (lit. Excellent One) is a Bhutanese honorific that is bestowed upon individuals, along with a red scarf kabney, by the Druk Gyalpo. In common practice, however, many senior government ...
") in accordance with tradition and custom. Also among the royal prerogatives are the grants of citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
, amnesty, pardon and reduction of sentences; and land "kidu" and other "kidus" (benefits).[
]
Royal appointments
Under Article 2, Section 19, the king appoints a significant number of high-level government officers: judicial appointees, the auditor general, and the chairs of anti-corruption, civil service, and election commissions are holders of constitutional office.[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 31[
The king appoints most of the upper judicial branch: the chief justice of Bhutan and the drangpons (associate justices) of the Supreme Court; the chief justice and drangpons (associate justices) of the High Court. These judicial appointments are made from among the vacant positions' peers, juniors, and available eminent jurists in consultation with the National Judicial Commission][Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 21[ Dungkhag Court jurists are not appointed by the king.
The king also appoints, from lists of names recommended jointly by the prime minister, the chief justice of Bhutan, the speaker, the chairperson of the National Council, and the leader of the opposition party, four kinds of high-level government: the chief election commissioner and other members of the ]Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
;[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 24 the auditor general of the Royal Audit Authority;[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 25 the chairperson and other members of the Royal Civil Service Commission;[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 26 and the chairperson and other members of the Anti-Corruption Commission.[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 27 The term for each position is five years. Referenced for incorporation are the ''Bhutanese Audit Act'', ''Bhutanese Civil Service Act'', ''Bhutanese Anti-Corruption Act'', and '' Attorney General Act''; references to existing '' Election Laws'' also appear throughout the Constitution.
The king appoints positions other than Constitutional Officers on the advice of other bodies.[ He appoints the heads of the Defence Forces from a list of names recommended by the Service Promotion Board. The king appoints the attorney general of Bhutan,][Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 29 the chairperson of the Pay Commission,[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 30 the governor of the Central Bank of Bhutan, the cabinet secretary, and Bhutanese ambassadors and consuls on the recommendation of the prime minister. The king also appoints dzongdags to head local governments, and other secretaries to the government on the recommendation of the prime minister who obtains nominations from the Royal Civil Service Commission on the basis of merit and seniority and in accordance with other relevant rules and regulations. The king appoints the secretary general of the respective houses on the recommendation of the Royal Civil Service Commission.
Military powers
The king is also the supreme commander in chief of the Armed Forces and the Militia of Bhutan.[Constitution of Bhutan]
, Art. 28
Voluntary and involuntary abdication
The Constitution provides substantive and procedural law for two paths of abdication
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
for reigning monarchs: voluntary and involuntary. As stated above, the king may relinquish the exercise of royal prerogatives, and such relinquishment may be temporary.
The Constitution provides that the king must abdicate the throne for wilful violations of the Constitution or for suffering permanent mental disability. Either must be upon a motion passed by a joint sitting of Parliament. The motion for abdication must be tabled for discussion at a joint sitting of Parliament (presided by the chief justice of Bhutan) if at least ⅔ of the total number of the members of Parliament submits such a motion stating its basis and grounds. The king may respond to the motion in writing or by addressing the joint sitting of Parliament in person or through a representative.[
If, at such joint sitting of Parliament, at least ¾ of the total number of members of Parliament passes the motion for abdication, then such a resolution is placed before the people in a National Referendum to be approved or rejected. If the National Referendum passes in all the Dzongkhags in the Kingdom, the kingmust abdicate in favour of the ]heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
.
List of Druk Gyalpos
The Hereditary Dragon Kings of Bhutan:
See also
* Constitution of Bhutan
The Constitution of Bhutan ( Dzongkha: འབྲུག་གི་རྩ་ཁྲིམས་ཆེན་མོ་; Wylie:'' 'Druk-gi cha-thrims-chen-mo'') was enacted 18 July 2008 by the Royal Government of Bhutan. The Constitution was thorough ...
* Druk
The Druk ( bo, འབྲུག, dz, ་) is the "Thunder Dragon" of Tibetan and Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. A druk appears on the flag of Bhutan, holding jewels to represent wealth. In Dzongkha, Bhutan is called ''Dru ...
* Druk Gyaltsuen
The Druk Gyaltsuen (lit. Dragon Queen) is the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while Queens of Bhutan are known as '' ...
* Dual system of government
The Dual System of Government is the traditional diarchal political system of Tibetan peoples whereby the Desi (temporal ruler) coexists with the spiritual authority of the realm, usually unified under a third single ruler. The actual distribut ...
* History of Bhutan
Bhutan's early history is steeped in mythology and remains obscure. Some of the structures provide evidence that the region has been settled as early as 2000 BC. According to a legend it was ruled by a Cooch-Behar king, Sangaldip, around the ...
* House of Wangchuck
The Wangchuck dynasty () have held the hereditary position of Druk Gyalpo ("Dragon King") of Bhutan since 1907. Prior to reunification, the Wangchuck family had governed the district of Trongsa as descendants of Dungkar Choji. They eventually ov ...
* Politics of Bhutan
The Government of Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy since 18 July 2008.
The King of Bhutan is the head of state. The executive power is exercised by the Lhengye Zhungtshog, or council of ministers, headed by the Prime Minister. Legislat ...
References
{{Bhutan topics
Titles of national or ethnic leadership
Royal titles
1907 establishments in Bhutan