DHARAMSHALA, September 4: A new report discussing the reasons and process behind the democratisation of Tibetan society, titled “Democracy in Exile,” was released on September 2, coinciding with the 52nd Tibetan Democracy Day commemorations.
The Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, while releasing the report, noted that the democratisation process of Tibetan society in exile has been ongoing since the 1960s, with the Dalai Lama as its “driving force and architect.”
“This process culminated in the landmark decision of 2011, when the Dalai Lama formally announced his complete withdrawal from political life but also the dissolution of the Ganden Phodrang, Tibet’s historical form of government, to make way for a fully-fledged democratic government, thus marking a new era of Tibetan government with the separation of religion and politics,” TCHRD said.
Despite the “overwhelming disagreement of the Tibetan people with the Dalai Lama’s decision,” the group said that the separation of religion and politics was taken for the “long term benefit of the Tibetan people who are facing an immense struggle for freedom, dignity and basic civil liberties against the might of the “communist” in name (but capitalist by nature) Chinese government.”
The report notes that Tibetan democracy, with its two-phase election system applied universally during elections at all levels from that of Kalon Tripa, Tibetan-Parliament-in-Exile and Settlement Officers, is one of the “most refined forms of democracy closest to that of direct democracy.”
“The stages of election with an initial preliminary round to solicit nomination from the public and later a final round of election amongst the nominees ensure that the elected leaders truly represent the public and that they truly have the people’s mandate,” the report states.
The Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration’s initiative to decentralise power to the grass roots level administration, the report notes, has been “partially successful” in the fact that one important component of effective local governance through Local Tibetan Assemblies have been constituted in 37 out of the 48 larger Tibetan settlements in South Asia.
However, the report points out that the election of Settlement Officers have “failed despite all the emphasis and repeated attempts to persuade the public to elect their Chief Officer.”
“As of 2011, there are only four settlements where there are elected Settlement Officers,” TCHRD finds out. “In some areas, attempts were made in the past but failed and the CTA in Dharamsala have been requested to appoint one.”
The report blames this failure on the “fear of internal politics, equal representation and perception of Settlement Officer as the representative of the Dalai Lama.”
TCHRD calls the Dalai Lama a “visionary leader” and states that the “freedom struggle of the Tibetan people will truly be a people’s struggle with a clear mandate won genuinely through democracy.”
The report also gives a brief analysis of the concept of ‘democracy’, as well as a detailed breakdown of the Chinese political system of ‘democratic dictatorship’.
The TCHRD report further exposes the actual reality of Chinese government as “an authoritarian, militaristic dictatorship; demonstrating how even other ‘political actors’ such as the media, big business, academia and NGOs are interfered with, censored and controlled by the Chinese government.”
