Penpa Tsering Sworn In As Tibet-in-Exile Govt Leader for a Second Term
Dharamsala: Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama prayed as the leader of the elected government of exiled Tibetans was sworn in for a second term on Wednesday.
The India-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), condemned by China as “nothing more than a separatist political group”, has become a key institution for exiles, especially after the Dalai Lama handed over political power in 2011.
Elections were held in 27 countries in February and April, but this is not the case in China.
Penpa Tsering, the government’s “sikyong” or leader, was elected to a second term after receiving 61 percent of the vote in the primary round; this was a high enough threshold to win outright.
Tsering said on Wednesday that he was not seeking full independence for Tibet, but instead supported the Dalai Lama’s long-standing “Middle Way” policy of seeking autonomy and “a solution to the Sino-Tibetan conflict through non-violence, dialogue and mutual benefit.”
Groups of traditional dancers performed while crowds, including red-robed monks and nuns, watched the ceremony in the northern Indian mountain town of Dharamshala.
‘A permanent bond’
“We…call on all Tibetans to remember our common identity as political exiles, put aside differences, promote unity, and fulfill our individual responsibilities to the common cause of Tibet,” Tsering said after taking the oath of office before justice officials and being watched by the Dalai Lama. he said.
“Despite the Chinese government’s systematic efforts to undermine Tibetan national identity, China cannot weaken the Tibetan people’s enduring ties with their homeland.”
The 91,000 registered voters include Buddhist monks in the high Himalayas, political exiles in the megacities of South Asia and refugees in Australia, Europe and North America.
The five-year parliament, which meets twice a year, has 45 members from around the world: 30 representing three traditional regions, 10 representing five religious traditions and five representing the diaspora.
It serves as the representative body for approximately 150,000 Tibetans living in exile worldwide.
‘Fight for truth’
Tsering thanked the host India as well as the USA for their support. “I also use this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the government and people of India, the United States and all our supporters,” he said. “Your support remains key to the effective continuation of our fight for truth.”
Exiled voters represent only a fraction of the ethnic Tibetans the CTA estimates at six million worldwide, compared to the more than seven million Chinese counted in the 2020 census.
Beijing, which sent troops to the vast, high-altitude plateau that it defined as an integral part of China in 1950, describes the government in exile as “an illegal organization that completely violates the Chinese constitution and laws.”
The 90-year-old Dalai Lama, who has been living in India after fleeing the Tibetan capital Lhasa after Chinese troops crushed an uprising in 1959, insists he has many years to live.
He smiled and waved as the ceremony progressed.
But supporters of the Nobel Peace Prize winner are keenly aware that China, a self-declared atheist and communist, said last year it should approve the Buddhist leader’s eventual successor.
The Dalai Lama says only his India-based office has this right.
Tibetan Buddhists believe he is the 14th reincarnation of a spiritual leader who was first born in 1391.
“We are determined to counter disinformation and misleading narratives spread by the Chinese government regarding the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” Tsering added.
