Tibetans in exile elect new president

The Tibetan Penpa Tsering, 55, became, on Friday, May 14, the new president, or sikyong, of the Tibetan Central Administration, the Tibetan government in exile, after an election in two rounds, on January 3 and April 11. Parliament was also renewed. Born in a Tibetan refugee camp in Bylakuppe, in the state of Karnataka, India, Penpa Tsering was a deputy, then president of the Parliament in exile. He succeeds Lobsang Sangay, the first sikyong to govern after the political retirement of 14e Dalai Lama, in 2011, and against which Penpa Tsering lost in the second round, in the 2016 elections.

Since then, the two men have been engaged in an open political struggle. Appointed representative in Washington in 2016, Penpa Tsering was dismissed by Lobsang Sangay and accused of “Ten lapses” in his duties. To which he responded by filing defamation proceedings with the Supreme Tibetan Justice Commission, which ruled in his favor and ordered in 2018 to sikyong and Parliament to express their “Regrets”. These political turbulences represent in a way the baptism of fire of the Tibetan mini-democracy, devoid of political parties at this stage. “There has been a lot of polarization in the Tibetan community around Penpa Tsering and Lobsang Sangay in recent years, says Tenam, a Tibetan refugee in France and human rights activist. It is a bit of a sign of democratic normalization. “

“As in any democracy, elections can be a source of division”, Penpa Tsering reacts, in response to our questions. “What can I say for sure, he adds, is that the general public is more aware today than ever before [de ce qu’est une démocratie] . The Tibetan central administration, which is based in Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), India, represents around 150,000 Tibetans spread across the world – most of them families of refugees who left Tibet since 1959 and the Dalai fled into exile. llama. Apparently, a negligible amount compared to the more than 7 million Tibetans living in China, in the Tibetan “autonomous” region proper (3.3 million according to the 2020 census) and in the four adjoining Chinese provinces.

Estate of the Dalai Lama

But a lingering pebble in the shoe of Beijing, whose governance of Tibet is only possible through military control and ruthless police repression. Tibetan-populated areas in China experienced a widespread uprising in 2008, followed by a wave of self-immolations by fire, from 2009 to 2013, in which at least 132 Tibetans lost their lives, most often by launching a call for the return of the Dalai Lama to his native land.

You have 61.87% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.