|
 SAMDRUP JONGKHAR, Bhutan (AP) - Thousands of Bhutanese practiced for democracy in mock elections Saturday, lining up neatly at polling stations in the latest step toward shedding nearly 100 years of absolute monarchy in the secluded Himalayan country.
Bhutan's 26-year-old king drove for two days across rugged mountains to encourage people to vote in his native village on the border with India. The path toward 2008 parliamentary elections started with his father, who astounded his subjects four months ago by handing the throne to his Oxford-educated son.
Thousands of people in traditional robes — knee length for the men and ankle-length for the women — lined up to select dummy political parties on electronic voting machines, while observers from the United Nations, India and Australia looked on. Women toted babies on their backs, and families brought lunch baskets, gathering later to picnic on pork, rice and potato curry.
|