By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, May 5: A Chinese government spokesperson in Beijing has said that the Tibetan exile government, known officially as Central Tibetan Administration is “unpopular” among Tibetans in Tibet and that the establishment is “illegal”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei, responding to questions from journalists, said, “The so called exile government is not popular with people in Tibet,” and that the re-election of the Harvard alumni Lobsang Sangay for a second term as Sikyong, the head of the Tibetan polity is a “political farce”.
“The so called exile government is illegal. No country and government acknowledges such organization. The so called election is a political farce staged by this organization,” Hong said.
On April 27, the Election Commission, the autonomous structure under the CTA announced that the incumbent Prime Minister (Sikyong) Dr. Lobsang Sangay, has won by a margin of 9012 votes. The same day Sangay told journalists, “By democratic standard, now the exile Tibetan democracy is a full fledged consolidated democracy. So we take great pride, hence I am very thankful to all those who participated in the election. Whether they supported me or not, their participation has strengthened our democracy.” He also said that the election sends a clear and powerful message to China, where people are deprived of exercising their democratic rights and that it is a ‘message of hope’ to the Tibetans inside Tibet and to the international community as well.
Here in Dharamshala, the seat of the exile Tibetan polity, Dr. Lobsang Sangay is set to take his oath for the second term by the end of this month. A very reliable source on the condition of anonymity told Phayul that Sangay had an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on May 2 at the latter’s residence in McLeod Ganj. “The private audience took over half an hour,” the source said adding that the 80 year old Tibetan leader also met Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile Penpa Tsering and Chief Justice Commissioner Kagyu DHondup the same day.
Earlier last month, both Sangay and Tsering were meted with censure from many sections of the Tibetan polity on the demeanor and manner of their conduct during the election campaign. His Holiness the Dalai Lama also expounded similar sentiments publicly at the centennial celebration of Men-Tsee-Khang.
