ABSTRACT
Once in power, the government began to disregard the King and his traditional as well as constitutional prerogatives, which were determined in the first place through democratic processes. Soon after he took over responsibilities of the monarch in 2006, the King initiated some major projects for the long-term benefit of the Bhutanese people. These projects became the first targets of the newly elected government. Although the King accommodated the government’s concerns, the latter redesigned some of those projects to derive personal or political benefits. The King is a constitutional monarch. He has neither aspired nor done things to undermine executive authority. I show how the government’s unfounded attacks on the King’s prerogatives were essentially part of a reformulated narrative of a powerless government positioned against powerful forces. Besides undermining royal projects, I reveal some key proposals of the government and ruling party which sought to appropriate royal prerogatives. Of great significance was the government’s tabling of the Land Bill in 2012, which was withdrawn in the context of popular backlash. I also discuss instances of how the government fell back upon the use of monarchy whenever it suited its political purpose to discredit critics and shore up political leverage.
