By Tenzin Tsering
Bylakuppe, September 3: Members of the International Network for Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT) yesterday called upon the Election Commission of the Tibetan government in exile to invite independent international election monitoring entities to observe the 2011 parliamentary and Kalon Tripa elections.
Members of INPaT who were in Bylakuppe for the 50th Tibetan democracy day celebrations met with the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama yesterday during a luncheon reception and briefed His Holiness about their recommendation. The members also met with the Tibetan Election Commissioner Jampal Chosang to discuss possibilities of having independent monitors during the Tibetan polls next year. “Our proposal is that we should invite observers from the International community, for them to know that there is progress in the Tibetan democracy in exile” said Mr. Thomas Mann, Co-Chair of the INPaT Working Group and the President of the Tibet Inter Group in the European Parliament.
INPaT will organise an international parliamentary event next year on the Sino-Tibetan dialogue process including suggestions on how to agree and implement the Memorandum of Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People presented by the Tibetan envoys in November 2008. It urged the Chinese leadership to consider the Memorandum as a basis for “substantive discussion leading towards positive, meaningful change in Tibet.”
“We also expressed the necessity to strengthen the international advocacy for support for Tibet. It is difficult with China putting pressure on the western governments. We will organize to achieve this as we know that we are trying to find a political solution to the Tibetan problem . It is not a military and not an independence solution. It is to find genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people” said Matteo Mecacci, President of the Tibet Intergroup of the Italian Parliament.
“The International community can involve itself as the third party to push China to get to the negotiating table until genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people is achieved and there is a free Tibet inside China” said Matteo Mecacci.
Stating the success of autonomy in various European countries, Mr. Mann added that“ The Memorandum on Autonomy (MoA) presented by the Tibetan side is labeled as a separatist document by China which is unfortunate. It is not true and it is important to make sure that the world understand and know what the Tibetans are asking for.”
“We have experienced autonomy in our European countries where it was possible to accept minorities and the celebration of its language, religion, education was possible,” added Mr. Mann.
When asked if the invitation of International election monitoring body for the coming Kalon Tripa election is a step towards recognizing the democratic exile government, Mr Mecacci replied that the Tibetan government in exile (TGIE)is not seeking recognition for an independent state.
While calling upon National Parliaments to increase their coordination and synergies on Tibet, INPaT condemned China for committing “gross and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Tibet” and called upon China “to implement the recommendations on Tibet by the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies, including by the Committee Against Torture (CAT) and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).”
The Fifth World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet (WPCT), held in Rome in November 2009, resolved to form a network of parliamentarians for Tibet (INPaT) to facilitate coordination among parliamentarians and parliamentary groups in order to effectively advance Tibet issues in a concerted manner.
