In an interview published yesterday with the Indian newspaper The Statesman King Jigme Singye Wangchuk said he hoped to become only a "constitutional head."

"Bhutan and its people are ready to have a democratic political system," he said. "And it will be based on parliamentary democracy."

"This is something that we want to do. There is no pressure on me at all, certainly not from within the country," said King Wangchuk, who ascended the throne at age 17 in 1972.

His family has ruled the landlocked kingdom since 1907 and he has gradually introduced reforms. He startled Bhutan in 2002 by starting a process to revise the constitution to put more power in the hands of his two million subjects.

In the interview, the king declined to set a timetable for a political transition, saying he wanted to avoid the experience of developing countries where shifts to multi-party rule have "often not done well."

He said a democratic constitution would be put before a national referendum.

"Clause by clause, article by article, it (the constitution) will be discussed with scholars and villagers, with (the) business and finance community, with all the people," the king said.

He said Bhutan should not be out of step with other countries in South Asia, most of which have democratic constitutions.

"Bhutan cannot have a different political system than what prevails in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation," he said, referring to the seven-nation regional bloc.