Home > News Archive > Tibetan women push for a strong Prime Minister

Tibetan women push for a strong Prime Minister

By Lobsang Wangyal | Tibet Sun

Tibetan women demonstrates to mark the 51st Tibetan Women’s Uprising in Lhasa in 1959, in Dharamshala, India, on 12 March 2010.File photo/TWA/India

As the election of the successor to Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche grows in importance due to the ageing of the Dalai Lama and the critical situation in Tibet, Tibetans in exile reach out to find a strong replacement.

The current incumbent Samdhong Rinpoche became the first directly elected prime minster of the Tibetans in exile in 2001 since the introduction of the new system. He is currently serving his second five-year term which will end in August 2011.

The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) announced the launch of a new campaign focusing on the electioneering of the new prime minister due to take place early next year. Its goal is to encourage more Tibetans to go out and vote.

Kirti Dolkar Lhamo, the President of TWA said that the campaign will let people know about their voting rights and the importance of the upcoming election. She said that TWA will not directly promote any specific candidate. “We want people to understand and be active in voting.”

The campaign will include programmes such as mock elections, video screenings, talks and discussions. “We hope to achieve at least 75% voters turn out in the next elections,” said Lhamo.

Exile Tibetans go to poll twice to elect their prime minister in a preliminary and a final voting. Up to ten candidates can become nominees after the preliminary round of voting depending upon the number of votes received. The nominees will then compete for the coveted position of Prime Minister for the Tibetan government-in-exile in a final vote, conducted 120 days from the initial proceedings.

TWA estimates that there are about 120,000 out of 150,000 Tibetans in the exile community who are eligible to vote but only 26.8% of those eligible voters balloted in the last PM’s election in 2006.

Exile Tibetans who are 18 and older have the right to vote (provided they pay tax to the Tibetan government-in-exile) but they need to register to exercise their rights. Much noise has been made about the need for registration, arguing that the registration may be of no real use as it may actually be a hindrance to people going out and actually voting. So far there has been no change to the system.

Since coming in to exile in 1959, democratisation of the exile community has been among the top priorities of the Dalai Lama. He had often said that education is key to the success of democracy in any country. Much of his energy and resources has been spend on education and introducing reforms in democratic process over the years.

Chinese officials hope that the issue of Tibet will end with the passing away of the Dalai Lama, who turns 75 in July.

Copyright © 2010 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun