Dharamsala, March 29 – The National Democratic Party of Tibet held a two-day general body meeting starting Saturday here. The meeting was attended by members of the regional chapters of the NDPT, former and current executive members among others. According to NDPT president Chime Yungdrung, the meeting discussed nominations of the Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister of the exile Tibetan government) and the 15th Tibetan parliament in exile.
The meeting endorsed its 3 nominees for the Kalon Tripa election and 45 nominees for the parliament after thorough discussion and voting. The organization that was started16 years ago on the suggestion of the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama as an offshoot of the Tibetan Youth Congress believes that a multi party system is a requisite for a meaningful democracy.
The Tibetans must participate in the democratic process and elections, said Chime. He emphasized the importance of the 2011 elections and urged members of the party to begin preparing and campaigning for its nominations immediately.
Presiding over as an honoured guest at the inaugural session was Penpa Tsering, the speaker of the Tibetan Parliament who said the Tibetans must leave aside regional differences and personal affiliations while voting for Kalon Tripa or the members of the parliament. He said that the 2011 Kalon Tripa elections and the parliamentary elections are very important for the Tibetan democracy.
Tsewang Rinzin, the President of the Tibetan Youth Congress, was also present at the opening meeting. The NDPT will make public their list of nominations for Kalon Tripa and the parliamentary elections later today. .
