Dr Ngawang Rabgyal to succeed retired Justice Commissioner Tsering Dhondup Namey Lhakang
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, Sep 26: Dr Ngawang Rabgyal, Secretary of Department of Education was elected today during the morning session of the ongoing 16th Tibetan Parliament in exile as new Justice Commissioner to replace Mr Tsering Dhondup Namey Lhakang.
With Justice Commissioner Tsering Dhondup’s set to retire a year earlier before his term ends, with effect from Nov 1, 2016 Dr Ngawang Rabgyal will take charge as the new Justice Commissioner of the Central Tibetan Administration.
Mr Tsering Dhondup Namey Lhakang, one of the two other Justice Commissioners of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission retired from service on Sep 24, 2016, reported the Tibetan administration’s official website Tibet.net citing a circular issued by the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission.
Dr Ngawang Rabgyal secured 24 votes compared to 18 for Ms Nangsa Chodon, Secretary of Department of Information and International Relations, in a voting held earlier today in the Tibetan Parliament to be elected the new Justice Commissioner.
The nominees for the replacement were recommended by a 3-member selection committee of former Chief Justice Commissioner Mr Namgyal Tsering Drelnang, former Kalons, Kirti Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin and Ven Tsering Phuntsok. The committee was constituted by Chief Justice Commissioner, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament, Deputy Speaker and Sikyong.
Dr Ngawang Rabgyal Norpa hails from Shingri, Tibet. After coming into exile in 1959, he enrolled at the Central School for Tibetans in Dalhousie and completed higher secondary education in 1974. He received his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Master of Arts in Political Science from Delhi University, and obtained PhD in International Relations from Kiev University, Ukraine.
He bores a distinction of services in the Central Tibetan Administration in various capacities across three continents since 1980.
He served as the Deputy Secretary at Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi from 1987-1993 and representative of His Holiness at the Office of Tibet based in Moscow, Russia from 1993-97.
Later, he was appointed as the Additional Secretary at DIIR, Central Tibetan Administration in 1998.
From 1999-2005, he served as Representative of Office of Tibet, New York (now based in Washington, DC).
From 2005-08, he served as Administrative Secretary of DIIR and from 2008-15, he was again appointed as Representative of Office of Tibet, Moscow.
Since 2015, he has been rendering his service to CTA as the Secretary of Department of Education.
