By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, June 19: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday urged the new parliamentarians to resolve the issue in accordance with the Charter, directing the MPs to take oath from the Interim Speaker. Chief Election Commissioner Wangdu Pesur told the press that the ongoing stalemate necessitated clarifications as it concerned the implementation of Article 45 of the Tibetan Charter, “The current stalemate mainly arose due to the two different ways of swearing-in proposed by the Tibetan Parliamentary Secretariat, a practice that remains inconsistent with the Tibetan Charter.”
The Commissioner issued a five-point clarification where he addressed the stalemate that resulted in the failure to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the house. The election body said that it is more than ready to conduct elections for Speaker and Deputy Speaker as and when the 22 elected members take oath of office from Pro-tem speaker Dawa Tsering.
Citing Article 53 of the Tibetan Electoral Rules and Regulations, EC referenced the electoral process which had effectively ended when the final election results were announced. Similarly, the EC said it had officially fulfilled the responsibility of overseeing the election arrangements of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker in accordance with Article 55 to 60 on June 8.
“This is an unprecedented situation that has surfaced for the first time in the history of the oath-taking ceremony. There are no definite measures stipulated in the electoral guidelines and the Charter for such a stalemate. Nevertheless, I still appeal to the 22 MPs to consider the path mandated by the law and hope the matter closes soon,” Chief Commissioner further remarked during the press conference.
On June 8, 21 MPs took oath of office from the Pro-Speaker Dawa Tsering, the longest-serving candidate in the parliament, who was sworn in by the Chief Justice Commissioner Sonam Norbu Dagpo. The other 22 MPs in attendance took the oath in front of the Charter and a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to show their non-recognition of the Pro-tem Speaker and the reinstated justices of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission (TSJC).
5 Responses
Penpa Tsering is a legitimate sikyong. He won the election. No one has problem with that. He could have taken his oath from a rock and people would have accepted him as sikyong because he won the election and in democracy, you win election to deserve your seat.
The problem is with the Tibetan justice commissioner who was removed by a parliamentary process and accepted the ruling by calling a press conference to announce his resignation basically taking back his position without due process in total violation of the charter. Even Samdhong rinpoche la alluded to the fact that they could be brought back by due process. If the justice commissioner can act like a total goon then the other chitues are right to hold him accountable.
Please bring back Samdhong Rinpoche la and Pema Jungney la on one to one discussion about our charter. They started and caused this problem and it is their moral responsibility to share their different views about our charter and those special clauses, finally find a common ground for the smooth running of our small exile government.
Well, fire them all.
Without any hassles, The New elected Sikyong has taken oath from the current Chief Justice Commission and became a legitimized New Sikyong Kungo Penpa Tsering of the CTA, Dharamsala. Nobody has a problem in that.
As per Charter, the new elected 21 U-tsang & Dome Chitues have taken oath successfully from the 16th own TPiE sub-committee appointed Pro tem speaker Dawa Tsering la. Now why 22 Dotoe & Choegue Chitues are playing drama to create unnecessary problems in taking the oath as per the Charter & creating a havoc in the Tibetan society. Think big & broader for the cause of Tibet.
Yes, who so ever on the post of Tibetan diaspora, they must act according to the Tibetan Charter. No one is above the Charter. We must agree or not agree but Charter must not be misused or circumvented to score political point.
If someone is not agreeing to the Charter, either bring amendment or quit your post, received through this Charter.
To be of Rangzen advocate, does not have the right to misuse the Charter. Now a days, this has become a fashion to attack the Central Tibetan Administration and His Holiness by the Rangzen advocate. Your fight is not with the belief of the majority of Tibetans but with the Red Chinese. If you are not playing with the support of Red China, go fight with the Communists. The ground is wide open and available. Please, leave our small community in peace and respect to His Holiness.