By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, May 31: The 16th Tibetan parliament in exile will have two Speakers without the majority’s mandate during its five years tenure, following three rounds of inconclusive voting results on its first day yesterday.
This is the second time that the Speaker’s post had to be shared between two members of parliament who got equal number of votes in the election. In 2006, the members of the 14th Tibetan parliament went for the middle way as it decided to divide the chairman’s term between two contenders Late Karma Choephel and Penpa Tsering.
The 16th parliament unanimously decided to split the five-year tenure between the two candidates with Khenpo Sonam Tenphel holding the post for the first two and a half years beginning at May 31, 2016 to Nov. 1, 2018, and Pema Jungney becoming the Speaker for the remainder of the term till May 29, 2021.
The newly elected Tibetan parliamentarians were sworn-in by interim Speaker Pema Jungney earlier in the day.
Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok, with 38 votes, was elected the Deputy Speaker for the 16th TPiE against Dolma Tsering (4 votes) and Thupten Lungrik (2 votes).
Speaking to reporters after becoming the Speaker, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel said he would do his best to fulfill his duties and responsibilities as the speaker.
“Having had to cast our votes multiple times was a bit of an inconvenience and the two and a half years term is out of compelling circumstances,” said Pema Jungney.
He also added that the re-voting was unavoidable and that the final decision to split the tenure was not according to the rules. However, he added that it was a solution adopted by a previous parliament in the past.
The new Speakers and Deputy Speaker would be sworn-in today at the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission by Kargyu Dhondup, the Chief Justice Commissioner.
The 16th Tibetan parliament saw an increase in the number of women and young legislators. Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar, speaking to Phayul after the swearing-in ceremony, said she feels the weight of expectation of the people who voted for her and that her efforts would be towards youth’s welfare especially in education sector and inclusion of women’s safety in the Tibetan Charter.
“The increase in the number of women MPs is a sign of progress and a clear indication that given a chance Tibetan women have the capability to perform on such an important platform,” she said, adding that people still complain over the fewer women MPs.
Dorjee Tseten, also a new and one of the young MPs, said, “Chithue (Legislature) being the most important pillar of a democracy and me being a newcomer, I am bit anxious as well as proud with the responsibilities. There are more to do than what I have done for the Tibetan cause and I felt it more strongly today.”
