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

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 CommissionConstitution 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:

References

{{Bhutan topics Titles of national or ethnic leadership Royal titles 1907 establishments in Bhutan