King abdicates to make way for son
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From Times Wire Reports
King Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated and announced that he would hand power to his Western-educated son, who is expected to usher in a parliamentary democracy for the isolated Himalayan kingdom.
The king, who assumed the throne in 1972 when he was 17, said a year ago that he would abdicate in favor of 26-year-old Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in 2008 as part of the Buddhist country’s transformation from an absolute monarchy.
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