Tibet votes Harvard scholar as leader

Lobsay Sangay becomes PM in first election since Dalai Lama announced he would renounce political role Tibetans around the world have voted a Harvard law scholar as their political leader, officials said today, in the first election since the Dalai Lama announced that he would give up the political leadership of the Tibetan community in exile . The new prime minister, the 42-year old Lobsang Sangay, polled 27,051 votes, 55% of the total electorate, to beat two other secular candidates. Though the Dalai Lama has made clear he wants to devolve political power, he remains the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, revered him as an incarnation of the deity of compassion. Some experts believe the changes could lead to a more radical position towards Chinese authorities on the part of the radical government-in-exile. Chief election commissioner Jampal Thosang told a news conference, that “the Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has declared Dr Lobsang Sangay as the third Kalon Tripa [prime minister]“. The handover of power will boost the prime minister’s role as the region seeks autonomy from China. It may help stave off a possible crisis of leadership in the event of the Dalai Lama’s death. The Dalai Lama has repeatedly said he hopes to see new, younger political leaders who are more representative of younger Tibetans. There are concerns among senior aides of the world-famous spiritual leader that the community in exile may be losing touch with the vast majority of Tibetans who remain within China. Last year, Lobsang Sangay’s predecessor, Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, told the Guardian that it was time Tibetans had political leaders who were not “old monks”. The new Kalon Tripa has previously hinted he could move beyond the Dalai Lama’s “middle way” policy of negotiating for autonomy for Tibet from China. As a student in New Delhi, he was a leader of the Tibetan Youth Congress, which demands complete independence. Born in a refugee settlement in India in 1968, Sangay won a Fulbright scholarship to Harvard where he earned a doctorate in law. As a senior research fellow at the university, he has engaged with Chinese scholars and has twice organised meetings between them and the Dalai Lama. Sangay was in the US when the results were announced. As prime minister he will have to move to the north Indian town of Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile that was formed in 1959 after the Dalai Lama fled Lhasa following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama announcement in mid-March that he would relinquish the four-century old tradition of power in favour of a leader popularly elected by the Tibetan diaspora came as a shock to many. Many followers asked him to reconsider. By giving up his political powers, the 75-year old Dalai Lama has made it more difficult for China to influence the course of the independence movement after his death, analysts say. “The Dalai Lama was very happy … as he thought people took very active part in the election process,” an official in the central Tibetan administration based in Dharamsala told Reuters news agency. The Chinese government says it has to approve all reincarnations of living Buddhas, or senior religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism, including the choice of the next Dalai Lama. Tibetans fear that China will use the vexed issue of the Dalai Lama’s succession to split the movement, with one new Lama named by the exiles and one by China after his death. China regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. Dalai Lama Tibet China Jason Burke guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 27, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.