Tibet is going to hold elections soon in 2021 for the election of a president and 45 members of the Tibtan Parliament in Exile (TPiE).
There are over 1.3 lakh Tibetans are living in exile and are settled across India and other parts of the world, they shall be electing their next Parliament-in-Exile, called Central Tibetan Administration, and it’s head in May 2021. The result of the first round which will begin in January and it will be declared on February 8 with the final result expected on May 14, 2021.
The Dalai Lama, is the spiritual head of the Tibetans, he fled Tibet in 1959 after China took control of the territory. He, along with hundreds of followers, was granted refugee status by India. According to the Green Book of the Tibetan government-in-exile, over 1 lakh Tibetans are settled across India, while the rest are settled in United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Mongolia, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and various other countries. The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE) has its headquarters in Dharamsala, of Himachal Pradesh.
According to Tibet’s Election Commission nearly 80,000 Tibetans living outside Tibet have registered for voting so far, including roughly 56,000 living in India and 24,000 in other countries. There will be two rounds in the process of voting. In the first round, there will be no official candidates, i.e. a voter can choose any person of his choice, which is expected to be one of the several candidates who have started campaigning among the electorate. Unless a person secures 60 percent of the vote, the two top contenders of the first round will become the official candidates for the second round to be held in April 11.
The candidates for the post of Sikyong, the head of central administration will be filtered out after the first round. Among a pool of candidates 8 are believed to be the front runners. Including Dongchung Ngodup, the Dalai Lama’s representative in New Delhi; Penpa Tsering, former Speaker of TPiE and former envoy in Washington D.C who contested in 2016 too; Kelsang Dorjee Aukatsang (Kaydor) who has been special advisor to Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and the Dalai Lama’s representative to North America; Dolma Gyari, former deputy speaker; Acharya Yeshi, incumbent Deputy Speaker; Lobsang Nyandak, former minister based in New York; Tashi Wangdu, former CEO (Federation of Tibetan Cooperative Societies, Bangalore); and Tashi Topgyal who is based in Shillong.
