DHARAMSHALA, March 19: The Speaker of the Tibetan parliament walked out of the house and said he would resign following allegation against his person by a member today.
Penpa Tsering said that he will challenge the concerned member if he made allegations outside the house within which members have immunity to legal backlash for their comments. “A member has alleged me of murder, if the member makes this statement outside the house then I shall challenge the accusation. Murder is not a minor crime, when such an allegation is put against me there is no other way for me but to resign from the speaker’s post,” said Penpa Tsering, before walking out of the house minutes before lunch recess.
The incident followed demands by some members for explanation from the speaker as to why he used his power to delete the Tibetan words meaning ‘murder’, ‘corruption’ and ‘embezzlement’ used by a member in a question regarding the budget for the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission yesterday from the parliament’s record.
The Speaker said the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission is not entitled by the law of the land to take up cases related to criminal offence and that therefore he ordered the words be taken off the parliament’s record.
Another member asked the speaker why he had not used the power to take the words off the parliament’s record immediately to which the speaker responded that it was brought to his notice by the Kashag minutes before resuming from recess yesterday.
A member of the parliament, while making a point during a discussion, had on Wednesday said that there were sitting members of the parliament who have allegations of ‘corruption, embezzlement and murder against them. “If we do not respect the verdict passed by the one of the three pillars of democracy, then what right do we have to face our public? Isn’t it like fooling His Holiness the Dalai Lama?”
The member in question said he had raised the issue of murder allegation with reference to an allegation by another member during the 14th Assembly when a nomination for minister’s post for Penpa Tsering, the incumbent speaker, was proposed by the then Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche. The Tibetan charter requires voting to be carried out in the house if a nomination by the Kalon Tripa of an individual for minister’s post is objected on the floor by a member of the house. The objection came from a member leading to the voting which prevented Penpa from becoming a Kalon.
The session continued after lunch with the deputy speaker Sonam Tenphel in chair.
