By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, June 2: A day after successfully winning the required majority in the floor test for his ministerial nominees, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile has found himself in murky waters as the eligibility of the newly appointed Department of Information and International Relations Kalon (Minister) Dhardon Sharling, the youngest ever minister, has become the centre of a much speculated row.
The appointment of Sharling makes her the youngest ever minister of the Tibetan cabinet but it turns out from her birthday records that she is too young to be eligible to be a minister as per the Tibetan charter which mandates any Kalon candidate to be 35 years of age or above.
The Date of Birth of Dhadon Sharling, as per the database (green book)of the Department of Finance, is Sept. 23, 1981 which is 3 months and 4 days short of the criterion.
The conjectures that has since been embroiling on social media sites and micro messaging sites has alleged that the Kalon who was sworn in just yesterday is eligible, on the grounds of technicality, to hold office. A Tibetan netizen Lama Kunchok writing on the Face book page of the said Kalon mentioned, “According to CTA Rules: To become a Kalon, one should not be younger than 35 years old, so Dhadon la (is) becoming 35 in the month of Sept. If the above information are true then why (is) Sikyong not following CTA Rules and where are (the) Chithues (Member of Parliament) sleeping. They should take (the) point in Parliament and TsokTso (Speaker of the TPiE) need to look for (into) it.”
Journalist from four media outlets including Phayul reached the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile Sonam Tenphel this afternoon seeking an official statement but did not obtain any affirmation. The Speaker refused to give any comment on the matter saying, “I do not have a comment on the matter considering this is an administration issue.” The Deputy Speaker Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok also refused to give any comments.
The Sikyong Lobsang Sangay who proposed the candidate yesterday in the parliament and won the approval through a majority of 25 votes also told the journalists that he does not have a comment on the issue. The calls made on the personal phone number of the Kalon Dhadon Sharling went unanswered.
A reader has sent this link, which is likely an archive from the website of the Tibetan Parliament and Policy Research Centre, an umbrella office under Tibetan parliament based in New Delhi which now remains shut.
The matter is expected to be raised in the third and last day of the Tibetan parliament on Friday.
