Tens of thousands of exiled Tibetans yesterday voted for a new leader tasked with sustaining their struggle for greater autonomy in the Chinese-ruled nation as the Dalai Lama retreats from the political front line.
While Tibetans from across the world were geared up to vote, those in the picturesque Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives, started lining up at booths at 9am to elect the next leader of the government-in-exile.
One by one, hundreds of Tibetans, including monks and nuns, scribbled the names of their favorite candidates on pieces of paper and slipped them into green ballot boxes as polls were set to close at about 5pm.
Photo: AP
The post of prime minister-in-exile was a low-profile role before the 80-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader devolved power in an attempt to lessen his own totemic status and foster a democratic setup to keep Tibet’s freedom movement alive after his death.
While many felt voting could help their campaign against Chinese rule over their Himalayan homeland, several were skeptical given the government-in-exile’s lack of effective power.
“I am not sure whether the democratic system can help in Tibet’s freedom struggle, but its values and rights can definitely ... bring more awareness on the Tibetan cause,” said Rikten, a 28-year-old teacher.
The Dalai Lama announced his decision in March 2011, just days before the election of the Tibetan government-in-exile Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, 48, who was standing again yesterday.
The Harvard-educated former academic is regarded as the frontrunner, having already beaten off three of the four other candidates in a first round of voting in October last year.
Both he and his one remaining opponent, Penpa Tsering, 49, favor the “middle way” approach of the Dalai Lama that advocates seeking greater autonomy for Tibet peacefully.
In all, 88,000 Tibetans in 13 nations from Australia to the US were registered to cast ballots for a prime minister and the 44-member parliament-in-exile.
Many voters, like Sangay, have lived all their lives in exile and never visited Tibet.
One of the eliminated candidates, Lukar Jam Atsok, spent time as a political prisoner in China and had threatened to make waves with his more aggressive policy of advocating complete independence.
On policy, there is relatively little to choose between Sangay and his remaining opponent, and opinions on the streets of Dharamsala were mixed in the run-up to yesterday’s vote. Many said they would vote for Sangay. However, some who voted for him in 2011 said they had been disappointed by his performance in office.
“I will vote for Penpa Tsering, who has decades of experience serving in the Tibetan government-in-exile and in the Tibetan community. He will have more substance,” said Lhadon, a 55-year-old woman.
Both Sangay and Tsering voted, while Atsok cast an “empty vote” to express dissatisfaction over the election commission’s move to bar his candidacy.
The results of the election are expected on April 27.
Tsering was born in India and has served in the Tibetan parliament-in-exile based in Dharamsala for 10 years, where he is currently the speaker.
Whoever prevails can expect to remain in the shadow of the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who remains the most potent rallying point for Tibetans, both in exile and in their homeland.
The Himalayan hill town has been home to him and thousands of Tibetan refugees since he fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Despite the Dalai Lama’s status, many exiles said it was important to vote.
“The election is really important. It is a basic right of a citizen to vote and we take this opportunity as a blessing,” said Sonam, a 22-year-old Tibetan student in Nepal.
She said she hopes the Nepal government would allow voting to go ahead after authorities confiscated ballot boxes in 2011, apparently under pressure from China.
China has widely been seen as waiting for the Dalai Lama’s death, believing that the movement for Tibetan rights would not survive without its charismatic and world-famous leader.
The globe-trotting Buddhist monk raised concern among his millions of followers last year when he scrapped a tour of the US for health reasons.
Asked about the election, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said Beijing had never recognized the government-in-exile and hopes other nations “will not provide any stage for Tibetan separatist activities.”
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat