Jigme Singye Wangchuck
Jigme Singye Wangchuck (born November 11, 1955 in Dechencholing Palace in Thimphu ), the only (legitimate) son of King Jigme Dorje Wangchuck (1952–1972) and Queen Ashi Kesang Choden, was from 1972 to 2006 the king ( Druk Gyalpo ) of Bhutan and is the father of the current King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck .
He was trained in part by private tutors, and Jigme Singye Wangchuck spent his school days in India and England, and since his return to Bhutan (1970) also in Paro.
After the death of his father, Jigme Dorje Wangchuck, the only sixteen-year-old crown prince ascended the royal throne in 1972. The formal coronation took place on June 2, 1974 in Thimphu .
family
Jigme Singye Wangchuck has been married to four sisters from Talo, Punakha Administrative District , since 1979 . After a private wedding ceremony in 1979, a public wedding ceremony in Punkha followed in 1988, at which Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (born February 21, 1980, son with the third wife Ashi Tshering Yangdön Wangchuk) was appointed crown prince . The king's four wives are: Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck (born December 20, 1955, second daughter of Yab Ugen Dorji and Yum Thuiji Zam), Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck (born December 20, 1957, third daughter of the family), Ashi Tshering Yangdön Wangchuck (born June 21, 1959, fourth daughter of the family) and Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck (born May 11, 1962, fifth daughter of the family). Polygamy is traditionally not common in Buddhist societies and is officially prohibited in Bhutan. The marriage of Jigme Singye Wangchuck with four sisters is therefore quite unusual and required the formal approval of Jhe Kenpo , the religious head of Bhutan. The political background was explained in a book ("Of Rainbows and Clouds") by the eldest Queen Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, published in 1998, in which she describes the family history of her father, Yab Ugyen Dorji:
Against the background of power-political conflicts, the 6th Shabdung Jigme Dorji was murdered in the Talo Monastery in 1931 at the instigation of King Jigme Wangchuk, the grandfather of Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The Shabdung at that time came from the family of the four sisters, whose family has since been subjected to repression by the Wangchuk dynasty. With the marriage of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck and the four daughters of Yab Ugyen Dorji, the family feud between the Wangchucks and the descendants of the murdered 6th Shabdung should be settled.
politics
In terms of domestic politics, Jigme Singye Wangchuck continued his father's reform course, which, however, turned out to be turbulent in the late 1980s. Sometimes violent confrontation with the opposition came to a head. The citizenship law passed in 1985 is viewed controversially by observers. A few years later it sparked political unrest in southern Bhutan. Some of the forced exodus of around 120,000 South Bhutans of Nepalese origin to Nepal and India .
For a long time Jigme Singye Wangchuck locked against the introduction of democratic conditions in his kingdom (it was long a prohibition of political parties and trade unions ). Due to domestic political pressure, the king was forced to have a new constitution drawn up in 2003 . In March 2005 a draft constitution was presented, which was replaced by a revised text in August 2005. The new constitution of Bhutan was passed in 2006. At the end of December 2007 the upper house of the new parliament was elected. On March 24, 2008, 318,465 eligible voters were called to also decide on the award of 47 seats for the lower house.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck is the fourth king of Bhutan since the establishment of the hereditary monarchy in 1907. His great-grandfather Ugyen Wangchuck collaborated with the colonial power of England in order to free himself domestically in disputes over political power in Bhutan. In 1910 a protectorate treaty between Bhutan and England was signed in Punakha .
The process of opening up the country was initiated under Jigme Dorje Wangchuck , the father of Jigme Singye Wangchuck: with the introduction of a national assembly in 1953, Bhutan's change from absolute to constitutional monarchy began. As head of state, the king today has mainly ceremonial and representative tasks. Political power rests formally with the National Assembly, which also has the option of using a vote of no confidence to force the monarch out of office - but only in favor of the heir to the throne.
In 2005 Jigme Singye Wangchuck received the Champions of Earth Award .
Despite a nationwide ban on smoking in public, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck is also a cigar smoker himself .
In December 2005 in Trashiyangtse he announced that he would resign in 2008 and that his son, Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck , would take over the fate of the country. On December 9, 2006, Jigme Singye Wangchuck resigned in favor of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kuensel Online : His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck becomes the fifth Druk Gyalpo ( Memento of the original from January 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in English, accessed December 16, 2006
Web links
- Bhutan Government and Politics. www.country-studies.com, accessed on February 19, 2017 .
- The History of Bhutan: The Monarchy. timphu.bhutan.at, archived from the original on April 19, 2005 ; Retrieved February 19, 2017 .
- In the paradise of the blessed. Zeit Online, January 10, 2009, accessed February 19, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wangchuck, Jigme Singye |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bhutanese nobleman, king ("Druk Gyalpo") of Bhutan |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 11, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Thimphu |