Dharamsala, Jan 12: The governor of the so called “Tibet Autonomous Region” (TAR) Jampa Phuntsok (Ch: Qiangba Puncog) is to tender his resignation at the ongoing parliamentary session of the region that began Sunday, Chinese state-run news agency reported Tuesday.
A new chairman will be elected before the “Third Session of the 9th Tibet Autonomous Regional People’s Congress in Lhasa, Tibetan capital city, concludes on Friday, Xinhua said.
Phuntsok, born in 1947, is a native of Chamdo in eastern Tibet’s Kham Province. A former mayor of Lhasa City, he became governor of TAR” in May 2003, shortly after he and two other Tibetans were appointed as alternate members of the Central Committee of the 16th Communist Party of China (CPC).
Phuntsok was governor during anti-China demonstrations by Tibetans Lhasa and across other parts of Tibet in 2008.
His resignation come as China convened a major policy conference on Tibet to spur economic growth and quell dissatisfaction in the region. Senior Chinese leaders, including President Hu Jintao, also met in Beijing last week to discuss issues related to “long-terms stability” in Tibet.
The report by Xinhua did not give a reason for Phuntsok’s resignation, a move that can also indicate a person is slated for another post. It also did not say whether his resignation would be accepted, or who his replacement would be. He is 62, three years shy of China’s mandatory retirement age.
“Everyone is looking to see whether an official will be made to pay for the policy failures indicated by the events of the spring of 2008,” Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University in New York, told Reuters.
“Qiangba was seen as one of the heavier people in the administration, but not as someone who initiates policies,” Barnett added.
The most powerful official in Tibet is party secretary Zhang Qingli, a Han Chinese. Both Zhang and Phuntsok were in Beijing when the 2008 demonstrations broke out.
Legchok (Ch: Legqog), chairman of the Standing Committee of “TAR” people’s congress, will also present his resignation at the parliamentary session, Xinhua said. The congress will elect a new leader during the session.
Legchok, a native of Gyangtse (Ch: Gyangze) County in southern Tibet, was born in 1944. He was appointed TAR’s top legislator in May 2003, after serving for five years as governor of the region. He turned 65 in October.
Chinese media reported last week that Legchok had been replaced by Pema Thinley, born in 1951, who is also Vice-chairman of the regional government, as new deputy party secretary in “TAR”.
The Xinhua report said the week-long annual meeting would discuss personnel changes in “TAR”.
