Dharamshala – The Tibetans today cast their ballots in an election whose result could well be predicted. The Tibetans had voted for the Kalon 
Tripa’s (prime minister of the exile Tibetan government) preliminary elections on 18 March, which resulted in the present Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche sweeping the polls with huge margins.
The Tibetan electoral rules require a minimum of two contenders in the election for Kalon Tripa otherwise there shall be a re-election. Nominees must confirm their contest in the election after the preliminary results. All nominees except Juchen Thupten Namgyal, a former Kalon Tripa and a veteran politician, withdrew from the final elections. Juchen remained in the run to avoid invalidation of the elections thus saving the exile government from unnecessary expenditures.
Samdhong Rinpoche will be serving the second term as the directly elected Kalon Tripa by the Tibetans in exile.
Meanwhile, speculations are doing rounds as to whether Rinpoche will induct new faces in his Kashag (cabinet) or retain the present Kalons (ministers). However, if the former academician’s words at a debate organized by the Election Commission for the two nominees is anything to go by, there will be no new faces in the 13th Kashag.
