By Phurbu Thinley
Phayul Correspondent
Dharamshala, September 30 – The second round of 14th ATPD (Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies) session started today, which saw Kalon Tripa, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche declaring his list of nominated candidates of the remaining Kalons (cabinet ministers) of the 13th Kashag (Executive Body) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in exile.
However, the session was brought to an abrupt halt with the Chairman of the ATPD, Mr. Karma Choephel announcing an hour-long break by exercising his discretionary power in a bid to give time for the deputies to assess the nominated candidates for approval in the assembly.
The resumption of the session at 11:15 AM saw none of the nominated candidates being spared unopposed in the assembly. This resulted into passing of votes in the assembly, which requires a candidate to attain a simple majority of 51% votes of the total votes cast in one’s favour in order to be approved by the assembly.
The end result came out with the assembly approving only four out of the five nominated candidates with former Kalon for Finance and, Information and International Relations, Lobsang Nyandak Zayul, surprisingly losing ground. Mr Zayul managed to get only 19 votes in his favour, with equal number of negatives and two no-opinions from among the total votes cast by 40 deputies. A candidate needs to get at least 21 votes in one’s favour to be approved by the assembly.
Thupten Lungrik, former Minister of Education and Health, also faced possible disapproval from the Assembly but luckily managed to get simple majority of 21 votes with 18 negatives and one no-opinion votes.
The only female candidate, Kesang Y. Takla, presently the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Northern Europe, got highest votes with 38 in her favour and only two negatives.
The remaining other two candidates; former Kalon Tenpa Tsering and Ven. Tsering Phuntsok, Standing Committee member of the 14th ATPD, were successfully approved in the Assembly with 34 and 23 votes respectively in their favour.
Given the present scenario, although nothing can be said as of now, the 13th Kashag of the CTA can now have five Kalons, including the Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, who was earlier re-elected by the Tibetans in exile for the second consecutive time.
The Charter of the Tibetans in Exile stipulates that the Kashag shall have a maximum of eight members, including the Kalon Tripa, the chief executive head of the CTA or, more popularly known to many as the Tibetan Prime Minister in Exile.
The second round of the ongoing 14th ATPD session will continue till October 7.
