Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama prayed as the leader of the elected Tibetan government-in-exile was sworn in for a second term on Wednesday.
The India-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) – condemned by China as “nothing but a separatist political group” – is a key institution for exiles, especially after the Dalai Lama handed over political power in 2011.
The elections took place in February and April in 27 countries – but not in China.
The “Sikyong” or government leader, Penpa Tsering, was elected for a second term after receiving 61 percent in the preliminary round – a threshold high enough to win outright.
Tsering said Wednesday that he does not seek full independence for Tibet, but instead supported the Dalai Lama’s longstanding “Middle Way” policy that calls for autonomy and a “resolution of the Sino-Tibetan conflict through nonviolence, dialogue and mutual benefit.”
Groups of traditional dancers performed as crowds, including red-robed monks and nuns, watched the ceremony in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala.
‘Stable connection’
“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 watched by the Dalai Lama.
“Despite the Chinese government’s systematic efforts to undermine Tibetan national identity, China cannot weaken the Tibetan people’s enduring bond with their homeland.”
The 91,000 registered voters include Buddhist monks in the high Himalayas, political exiles in South Asian megacities 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 represent three traditional provinces, 10 represent five religious traditions, and five represent the diaspora.
It functions as a representative body for the approximately 150,000 Tibetans living in exile worldwide.
‘Fight for the truth’
Tsering thanked host India, as well as the United States, for their support.
“I also take 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.”
Exile voters represent only a fraction of ethnic Tibetans — whom the CTA estimates at six million worldwide, compared with the more than seven million China counted in its 2020 census.
Beijing, which in 1950 sent troops to the high-altitude plateau it describes as an integral part of China, calls the exiled government an “illegal organization that completely violates the Chinese constitution and laws.”
The 90-year-old Dalai Lamabased in India since fleeing the Tibetan capital Lhasa after Chinese troops crushed an uprising in 1959, insists it has many years to live.
He smiled and waved as the ceremony continued.
But supporters of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate are well aware that self-proclaimed atheist and communist China said last year it must approve the Buddhist leader’s potential successor.
The Dalai Lama says that only his office based in India has this right.
Tibetan Buddhists believe he is the 14th reincarnation of a spiritual leader first born in 1391.
“We remain committed to combating disinformation and misleading narratives propagated by the Chinese government regarding the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” Tsering added.
