By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Feb. 4: Following the Election Commission’s pronouncement of the final two 2016 Prime Ministerial candidates yesterday, Lukar Jam Atsok, the relegated candidate courtesy the last minute amended regulation by the EC took to making public what he called a “vetoed display of power by the EC and the concerned authorities” and an outright “bully” tactic to oust him from the race.
“The move by the EC to elbow me out of the race is tantamount to denying the mainstream pro-independence movement a political space in the Tibetan community,” Lukar said at a press conference here.
“Although a defeated candidate customarily congratulates the winner I am not doing that because I have not been defeated by the polls but have been made to sit out the remainder of the race due to the EC’s intervention in changing the rules,” says the only pro-independence candidate among the five who stood to contest the preliminary polls for the highest office of the exile Tibetan polity.
The former political prisoner and the President of a prominent Tibetan NGO laments that the amended rule by the EC is an anomaly considering the fact that the history of the Tibetan elections has never seen such measures employed. “Either candidates would pull out voluntarily after the preliminary or all the candidates were allowed to contest in the finals. I also remember an incident where the EC had to request former Kalon Tripa Juchen Thupten Namgyal not to withdraw from a particular election”.
Questioning the development that has arisen out of the EC’s intervention, he said, “Does the two standing candidates carry the ideological mandate of the whole of Tibetan people? Or who is responsible for the constriction of the candidacy which has limited the race between two people? I think the EC and the leadership who is directly responsible should carry the weight.”
He also opined that the recent suicide of a Tibetan camp Leader in South India on election duty is connected to the inability by the local as well as the central EC to put a firm foot on such incidents. “It is unfortunate that the small exile community has seen the death of a man due to the polls while the recent Taiwan presidential elections participated by millions did away without the loss of any human life,” he added.
Although relegated and out of the race, Lukar is confident that his pioneering venture in the mainstream Tibetan political arena will usher more able and more weathered frontrunners in the future.
Under the uneasy election climate, the role and the action of the Election Commission have been under the radar not only of exile Tibetans crying foul but also observers and long time members of Tibet support groups who collectively jotted an ‘open letter’ of concern earlier.
US Congressman and Co-Chairman of the Congressional Tibetan Caucus Dana Rohrabacher on Feb. 1 wrote a letter addressed to US Secretary of State, John Kerry and USAID Administrator Gayle E. Smith raising concern on the questionable role of the Tibetan Election Commission under the Central Tibetan Administration which receives annual grants from the American government.
The strongly worded letter reads, “I write to express my concerns over troubling rules enacted in relation to that election. These rules appear to have the effect of anti-democratically restricting free speech and free association, at a time when the current CTA incumbents are seeking reelection.”
“Given the ongoing support (19 Million USD consolidated, 2014 and 6 Million USD, 2016), I believe the US government also continues to monitor how the CTA is operating, including whether its current leadership is complying with accepted democratic standards,” Rohrabacher wrote.
For now, it is the end of the road for Lukar Jam Atsok who left the arena leaving unanswered questions for the concerned authorities. “I do not endorse both the Sikyong candidates and my vote will be blank in the final elections,” he declared.
