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Monarchy & Government
The Fourth King - His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck
King Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended the throne in 1972. Like his father before him, the young king at the age of 17 wanted to open and modernize the country in a cautious manner and has always stressed on the need to foster a balanced society by promoting tradition, culture and the preservation of the environment.

In 1979 Jigme Singye Wangchuck privately married four sisters who were descendants of two of the shabdrung, the rulers of the old dual system of government.

In 1988, in order to legitimize the eventual succession to the throne for his oldest son, Dasho Jigme Gesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the Druk Gyalpo and his four sisterqueens were married again in a public ceremony in Punakha.

Considered a people's monarch in every sense, His Majesty has guided the nation towards the pursuit of economic self-reliance, cultural promotion, environmental preservation, regionally balanced development, good governance and decentralization.

Following the royal decree issued by the king in September 2001, the government of Bhutan inaugurated the drafting of a Constitution, which is widely seen as a historic move in the process of political evolution initiated by His Majesty.

The process of decentralization was a personal initiative of the king with the introduction of Dzongkhag Yargye Tshogchungs (DYTs) in 1981, and Geog Yargye Tshogchungs (GYTs) in 1991. Emotions ran high among the Bhutanese people when His Majesty devolved all executive authority from the throne to the cabinet in 1998 introducing a system in which the National Assembly would elect a Council of Ministers by secret ballot, and direct the National Assembly to re-introduce the system of a vote of confidence in the King.

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