By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 20: The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile Saturday passed a unanimous resolution reaffirming full trust and confidence in His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s leadership in resolving the issue of Tibet.
The resolution abides by the Parliament’s earlier resolution passed way back in 1997 that gave the Tibetan leader full authority in dealing with the future course of action for resolving the issue of Tibet.
The unanimous resolution, which was passed after two days of extensive deliberation on the Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the the parliament, was met with a standing ovation from Tibetan lawmakers.
In the statement, the Dalai Lama directed the parliament to undertake thorough discussion with the administration to clarify all confusions and doubts in the exile Tibetan community that the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People” and the “Note on the Memorandum’ submitted to the Chinese government do not reflect his views or that the two documents had not been tabled in the parliament for approval.
A section of the parliamentary members had also earlier during the session, which concluded successfully here today, questioned the validity of the two documents.
In the statement, the Dalai Lama has said that in arranging the two documents he had acted sincerely on the unconditional responsibility entrusted to him by the unanimous resolutions passed by the Tibetan parliament in the past.
The Tibetan parliament in 1997 passed a unanimous resolution accepting Dalai Lama’s approach to resolve the Tibet issue. It was passed after vast majority of Tibetan people expressed views that whatever His Holiness the Dalai Lama decides, considering the international situation, will be acceptable to them.
The resolution passed here today said that the parliament was fully convinced that the two documents submitted to the Chinese government were in accordance with the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and that there was no need for parliament’s approval for them as per the earlier unanimous resolution.
In the resolution, the Parliament also extended heartfelt apologies to the 74-year old exiled Tibetan leader for any pain and hurt caused by the recent controversy and misconstruction on the matter.
The resolution further said that the members of the parliament in future would strive sincerely to improve the standards and the proceedings of the parliament and that it would work for the public good by avoiding partisan feelings.
While briefing the press after the conclusion of the proceedings the Parliament Speaker Mr Penpa Tsering expressed full satisfaction for the smooth and successful conclusion of the Ninth session of the 14th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.
The session, which opened here on March 8, mainly focused on the budget session of the exile Tibetan government.
Finance Minister Tsering Dhondup today presented the budget for the fiscal year 2010-2011 and was approved by the parliament.
During the 11-day session, the parliament also approved motions to hold three major events in Bylakoppe Tibetan settlement in South India later this year. These include the ‘Second Special Meeting’ of Tibetan exiles from August 28-31, a grand longlife offering ceremony for His Holiness the Dalai Lama on September 1, and a special and elaborate function commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Democracy Day.
