DHARAMSHALA, June 11: The dates for the preliminary and final elections for the Tibetan prime minister and the Tibetan parliament was announced on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, the Chief Election Commissioner Sonam Choephel Shosur made the announcement. Also present were the two newly appointed Additional Election Commissioners.
The preliminary elections for the Tibetan PM (Sikyong) will take place on October 18, 2015 and the final election will be held on March 20, 2016.
The EC also announced new regulations for the elections including monetary check on campaign expenses. A prime ministerial candidate can not spend more than eight hundred thousand Rupees and a candidate for the parliament can not spend more than three hundred thousand Rupees, the EC said.
All campaign related activities must stop two days before the final election. The EC also urged candidates to maintain dignity of the elections by refraining from excessive campaign in sensitive areas like Nepal.
The EC also notified all candidates to file their nominations to the regional elections commissioners before making their candidacy public.
The Tibetan exiles will be going to polls for the fourth time since the first direct elections for the Tibetan PM’s post (then known as Kalon Tripa and now as Sikyong in Tibetan) which was won twice by Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche.
Amendments in the Tibetan charter has led to the expansion of the Tibetan parliament to a total of 45 members. Ten members including two women from each of the three provinces, two each from the four traditions of the Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, two from the Americas, two from Europe and Africa, and one from the Australasia region excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan.
Former CTA official and head of the Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives in India, Tashi Wangdu, announced his candidacy for the Sikyong elections on Wednesday.
