BBC News Online: World: South Asia

King's power curbed

Observers describe the move to curb King Jigme Singye Wangchuk's powers in the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan as the end of an era.

It follows another big change in political life in Bhutan last week when the King dissolved his cabinet and dropped several ministers who had served for more than 20 years.

After the vote on Wednesday he put forward six more cabinet nominees - relatively young civil servants - who the assembly approved by a large margin.

The King's supporters say the changes fit into Wangchuk's vision of a slow transition to democracy.

But his critics believe the cabinet reshuffle is a political gimmick intended to give the world a false impression that Bhutan is indeed heading for democracy.

Correspondents say the pro-democracy movement is split. One party - the United Front for Democracy in Bhutan - wants to intensify the campaign for greater democracy.

The other main party, the Appeals Movements Co-ordination Council, wants to concentrate on bringing home thousands of Bhutanese refugees who have been living in Nepal for almost ten years because of a restrictive citizenship law.

The political reforms are not the only change to have hit this isolated kingdom of 600,000 people in the last month. The King, a football fan, made an exception to the normal ban on television by putting up giant screens around the capital to broadcast the World Cup.

The government is now reportedly examining whether to set up its own television service.

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