Dharamshala, March 31 – The Tibetan parliament-in-exile on has approved a seven, point agenda recommended by their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to transfer his powers to the parliament or the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (ATPD).
The resolution on the approval of the seven-point agenda was introduced in the Assembly in September last year and finally adopted with amendments on Tuesday.
Deputies of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile said the new move would empower them just like any other parliament in the world.
“For the devolution of power that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is undertaking to empower the Tibetan parliament like any other parliament in the world, this could be taken as the last and the latest empowering of the parliament. His suggestions, the seven-point suggestions were taken up. A resolution was passed and this time all the neccessary ammendments that need to be undertaken on the charter of the Tibetan government, which is also the constitution and other rules and regulations concerning His Holiness’ suggestions were taken up and amended,” Pempa Tsering, a deputy of the Tibetan Assembly, said.
The democratisation process was initiated in 2001 when the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile was elected directly by the people. The 46-member Assembly is currently holding its budget session in Dharamshala, headquarters of the Dalai Lama.
The Tibetan Parliament has heavily borrowed from Indian constitution and parliament.
It is a one-house Parliament which meets twice a year for about a fortnight each.
The life of Parliament is five years.
Though it functions like other legislatures, the plain, utilitarian structure is a testament to its temporary, exile status.
It was in January 1960, the Dalai Lama advised his followers in exile to elect their representatives on the basis of three each from those who had come from the three Tibetan regions.
The first elected representative body in Tibet’s history, designated the commission of Tibetan People’s Deputies, met on September 2, 1960. The day is observed by the exile community as the “Democracy Day.”
Chinese troops imposed Communist rule on Tibet in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled nine years later after a failed uprising against them. China claims Tibet as part of its territory and accuses the religious leader of separatist activities.
The Dalai Lama’s envoys recently visited China as part of a contact- building process that began in 2002 when the Tibetan god-king’s envoys visited China in the first direct contact between them since 1993.
Analysts say the re-establishment of contacts between China and the Dalai Lama’s representatives reflects a slight softening in Beijing’s position as it tests the waters for some kind of political solution.
The ageing Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, reiterated he was not seeking independence for Tibet but greater autonomy for the region.
