The secluded Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, a land that’s made promoting happiness its paramount goal, became the world newest democracy Monday when it held its first parliamentary elections.

And few, apart from the king who is giving up his power, seemed happy about the vote that will end more than a century of absolute monarchy.

In the run-up to the election, candidates proudly called themselves monarchists, party workers described the poll as “heartbreaking,” and voters fretted about what would become of the Land of the Thunder Dragon after it traded its Precious Ruler for politicians.

Bhutan has long been a quirky holdout from modernity _ a mountainous land where Buddhist kings reigned supreme, only allowing the Internet and television in 1999 and coming up with the idea of Gross National Happiness, an all-encompassing political philosophy that seeks to balance material progress with spiritual well-being.

“People were looking around at what is happening in South Asia and saying, ‘No thank you’,” said Kinley Dorji, who runs the state-owned newspaper, Kuensel.

After the election, the king, 28-year-old Jigme Keshar Namgyal Wangchuck, will remain head of state and will likely retain much influence. But elected leaders will be in charge.

The vote for the 47-seat National Assembly is the latest step in a slow engagement with the world, which Bhutan began in the early 1960s.

Back then Bhutan was a medieval society with no paved roads, no electricity and no hospitals. Goods were bartered rather than bought, and almost no foreigners were let in.

The country of about 600,000 people now has a cash economy. It’s even likely to soon join the World Trade Organization and thousands of tourists are welcomed every year, albeit on heavily supervised and expensive tours.

On Monday, voters waited patiently in three lines: one for men, one for women and a third for the elderly or women with children.

A poem posted on the wall outside one voting booth praised the king and his ability to lead.

But this dedication to preserving Bhutanese culture has a darker side.

More than 100,000 ethnic Nepalis _ a Hindu minority _ were forced out in the early 1990s and have been living as refugees in eastern Nepal.

Bhutan says most left voluntarily, and refugee rebel groups have set off at least nine small bomb blasts this year in an effort to disrupt the election, killing one person. Bhutan sealed its borders Sunday to head off more attacks and said it will not reopen them until after the vote.