Electronic Voting Machines were first brought into Bhutan by Dasho Kunzang Wangdi, first chief election commissioner, whose trips to India and meetings with then Election Commission of India paved the way for introduction of the EVM system in the Himalayan kingdom. Bhutan has not looked back since and Wangdi credits his kings and the help of the India’s EC for their smooth transition to democracy.
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“As the auditor general during my visit to Karnataka, I was not too keen to see EVMs because I thought simputers were more useful. Later, when I was appointed CEC and went for my first orientation to India, I visited BEL where a polling station was recreated and realised instantly how EVMs would be useful. That’s when we decided to have EVMs,” he said. He bought 130 EVMs for the first time for training. For the actual election, Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) bought 4,000 EVMs, which was later reimbursed by the Indian government as a gift.
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Wangdi highlighted the role of the Supreme Court in the success of the election commissions, both in India and Bhutan, and he urged people not to ignore their responsibility to cast their vote to ensure peace and progress. “If you want to be critical of the workings of the government, you enjoy the right to do so if you have voted, otherwise you have accepted whatever they decide.” Excerpts:
Q/ You were instrumental in running the country’s first democratic elections in 2008. What were the highlights?
A/ The vision of the king and the provisions enshrined in the draft Constitution paved way for the first democratic parliamentary elections in 2008. After the king had decided to execute it, it was a very fast process. My first orientation visit to India gave us the opportunity to interact with the Election Commission of India and it was an eye-opener. Many lessons were learnt and it helped us in creating an election system that is purely Bhutanese in nature. The First Parliament of the Kingdom of Bhutan as a Democratic Constitutional Monarchy, with the First National Council election at end of 2007 and with the National Assembly elections held in Bhutan for the first time on March 24, 2008, and declared on the March 25, 2008, were historic milestones. Since we had only two registered political parties at that time, the Election Commission of Bhutan decided to conduct the General Elections straightaway as the Primary Round was redundant to contest the first parliamentary elections. The fact that the Constitution provided that elections in Bhutan are not going to be influenced by money power and muscle power, and particularly the election campaign is going to be state-financed, the draft Election Act was supported with the Public Election Fund Act. Even today, parties and candidates are not allowed to gather funds from any source other than under headings and amount permitted under laws and spend it freely. Over the last 15 years, things have passed smoothly. So, I feel that we have done the right thing.
Q/ Why was the king keen to create a democratic system?
A/ I guess whenever you talk of monarchy, you think of it as dictatorship or autocracy where things are not too good. But I think the king had a lot of things to do which were more democratic in nature and the well being of the people was his priority. I was the assistant protocol officer during the king’s coronation in 1974 and I was listening to his coronation speech. He was talking of “people’s participation” and “economic self-reliance”. At that juncture, I was wondering what is people’s participation? And he also said that, as a king, he is a single person and can’t do anything by himself, so everybody has to be involved. He later on talked about decentralisation, bottom-up approach and grassroot planning and development, which means people will have to decide what they want and the government will help them do it. All our kings have been unique that way. The first king was also elected, in a way, the second king talked about modernisation and the third king saw the creation of the National Assembly, judiciary with the concept of separation of powers of government and people’s representatives in various institutions. And even before 2008, the fourth king was handing over power and elections were held by early 2008. The fourth king was a strong believer in democracy and he proved it.
Q/ How tough was it to prepare voters to cast their vote and can you share how was your interaction with the Election Commission of India?
A/ First, we took it as a historic opportunity and worked hard to prepare the people, who never thought about politics. It was unthinkable for many about a government which will be elected, because many wanted to continue with the existing system since they were happy with the monarchy. Fortunately, as an auditor general, I was first invited by the CAG in India in 2001 and they asked me what I wanted to see. Given the changing times in Bhutan, I wanted to see computers and electronics. They took me around and I attended an exhibition of Electronic Voting Machines but at that time I was not too keen to see EVMs because I thought computers were more useful. Later, when I was appointed CEC and went for my first orientation to India, I visited a polling station created to demonstrate EVMs and I saw how EVMs were useful. That’s when we decided to have EVMs. We bought around 130 EVMs that time and first conducted a training drive. The Indian government later reimbursed the costs for us as a gift. I see the EVMs as an answer to several years of challenges faced by India in managing polling booths and dealing with concerns of rigging and tampering. I boldly told the Indian Election Commission later that you should not have put an “E” before it because people think it is a computer, when it is a reliable vote recording and counting gadget only. The losing party or a candidate often complain, if results don’t go in their favour not for any fault of the machine.
Q/ Do you see EVMs as the most credible way to cast the vote today?
A/ Yes, there is absolutely no way you can tamper with the EVM. If anyone wants to play mischief with it, it would require cooperation of everyone including the media because you can’t do it in a quiet way. The EVMs go through a series of sealing and if you look at it , it looks like a completely bandaged machine with a lot of signatures and seals of many agencies present. The EVMs save a lot of resources as well. Imagine if we had to use paper ballots. Now we don’t have to print voting papers. Counting has become easier. Transportation is easy. In fact, you can imagine with ballot papers, even when we got around 4,000 EVMs, once they came in truckloads so much so that storage became a problem for us.
Q/ How do you see the Indian democratic system today?
A/ The Indian election system is fantastic and they are manned by dedicated and hard-working people. I think the good part is that the Election Commission of India has got the support of the Supreme Court. So, they have been able to do things and handle issues every now and then without partisan interventions. The last time transparency concerns were raised, the SC upheld the EVM polling system so that helps maintain the sanctity. The Supreme Court judges have been very supportive of them. In Bhutan, too, we expect the Supreme Court to play a role as per the Constitution when the need arises. When I met former Indian CEC Navin Chawla, he told me that we have the loneliest and toughest jobs. I realised later because whenever there are any challenges, we can’t go to the Attorney General or the Head of State or judiciary to consult them. Not even the Election Commissioners, as they were chairs of the lower committees whose decisions may be challenged. We have to apply our minds and do things in the stipulated time frame. It is a lonely job but it is an opportunity to do things in an efficient way.
Q/ How do you see Bhutan’s political system evolving as competitive politics come in?
A/ The Constitution has provided for it, so I see it as the duty of the opposition to play its role. It is necessary. We expect that they do not oppose the government on issues they feel are in people’s interest and in national interest. The danger that political parties can get powerful and side-track real issues remains, but so far we have had four different governments and it is going fine. The voters want peace, prosperity, development, education, health and food on your plate. The present government has come out with an ambitious 13th Five Year Plan and the aim is to make significant progress as we are moving on from being a developing to a developed country. The king is impressing upon this fact and seeing that the decision making is on the right path.
Q/ You studied in St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. What were the learning during your college years?
A/ I say that the first time I became a voter was when Shashi Tharoor was contesting as a candidate for St. Stephen’s students’ union. The other candidates were Chandan Mitra and another guy from Manipur. I voted for Tharoor and many years later when I met him, I told him I had voted for him. It was an eye-opening experience being a student in Delhi at a time when Indira Gandhi was prime minister, the Jai Prakash movement started and we could see its progress. Then, during the Delhi University Students’ Union elections, Arun Jaitley was elected president. Though I was only an onlooker, I was witness to some of developments that were shaping Indian politics.
Q/ Do you think the world is moving towards authoritarianism or is democracy still alive and kicking?
A/ I think there’s no guarantee that there won’t be any war in the world but hopefully things will not be that bad. It is true there is a leaning towards more authoritarianism but people will have to take the responsibility of exercising their democratic duties and responsibilities. Every one should go and vote and even if they don’t like any political parties, they still must exercise their right. NOTA is helpful in such times if you don’t like both parties equally. We do not have NOTA in Bhutan as of now. I think if you want to criticise the government, you should vote to exercise that right otherwise you have accepted whatever they say.
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