Exiled Tibetans elect new political leader

[News_Editor]

Exiled Tibetans elect new political leader

2011-04-28 01:39:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

DHARAMSALA, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- A new prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile was announced on Wednesday in the northern Indian city of Dharamsala.

The Tibet Post reported the US-based Tibetan scholar and Harvard laureate, Dr. Lobsang Sangay, won the 15th general election with 55 per cent of the total votes. Runner-up Tenzin Tethong obtained 37 per cent of the votes while the last of the three candidates, Tashi Wangdi, only received approximately 6.5 per cent.

The election committee chairman, Jampal Choesang, said the voter turnout was the highest so far, reaching a total of 59 per cent of the 83,399 eligible voters. The elections took place on March 20, days after the Dalai Lama announced he would retire as leader of the government-in-exile. Voter also elected 47 members of the Tibetan Parliament.

"We have been impressed by the way in which the organization of the election has taken place over the last month. With His Holiness the Dalai Lama to relinquish his temporal role it will make this election not only historic but contribute further to the development of the Tibetan Democratic electoral process," the International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet said in a statement.

Lobsang Sangay, who was born in Darjeeling, India, will be the first Kalon Tripa, or prime minister, to have been born outside Tibet. He will also be among one of the younger politicians of the Central Tibetan Administration with his 42 years of age, according to the Tibet Post.

The Dalai Lama, 75, took over as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950 to succeed Thubten Gyatso, who died at the age of 57 in December 1933. He remained largely unknown to the international community until he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

As Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso is traditionally believed to be the reincarnation of Thubten Gyatso and was first recognized at the age of two. He assumed full political power at the age of 16 in 1950 but was forced into exile in India after the Chinese military occupation of Tibet.

Since 1960, the Dalai Lama has resided in the Indian city of Dharamsala which is now the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. This fact remains a major irritant in Chinese-Indian relations. Dharamsala is sometimes also referred to as 'Little Lhasa', referring to the capital of Tibet.

The current government's mandate runs until August 14 and presumably the inauguration ceremony will take place on August 15, 2011.

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