New Chief Election Commissioner and Chairman of Public Service Commission sworn-in
DHARAMSALA, 7 Oct: Wangdu Tsering Pesur was sworn in as the new Chief Election Commissioner and Chairman, Public Service Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA).
Chief Justice Commissioner Kargyu Dhondup administered the oath of office to the newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner and Chairman, Public Service Commission at a brief ceremony held earlier today at the T-building, the auditorium of the CTA at its headquarters in Dharamsala.
CTA President Dr Lobsang Sangay, Cabinet members, Chief Justice Commissioner, Deputy Speaker of Tibetan parliament-in-Exile, Justice Commissioners, heads of the Autonomous bodies and members, members of the Standing Committee of Tibetan parliament and Secretaries of CTA departments were present on the occasion.
Wangdu Tsering Pesur will now succeed Shosur Sonam Choephel as the 6th Chief and the chairman of the two autonomous offices of the CTA.
Speaking to the reporters after assuming the new offices, Wangdu Tsering Pesur said that he considers the office of Election Commissioner and Public Service Commission equally important for the successful running of the CTA and vowed to run the offices with complete dedication and passion in accordance with the provisions of the charter of the Tibetans.
On the significance of upcoming 2021 general election of Tibetans to elect the CTA President and the 17 Tibetan parliamentarians, he spoke on evolution of the democratic system of the Tibetan people and how democracy came to the Tibetan people as a gift from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and further described the Tibetan democratic system of governance in exile as a unique system compared to the rest of the world.
Though the constituencies of the Tibetan parliament is based on the provinces of Tibet, with the sense of being a Tibetan at the core and under the grace of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he expressed his confidence that the upcoming general election will be more successful than the last one held in 2011.
“To err is to human and in spite of the little hiccups that surrounded the 2011 general election, I am hopeful that the 2021 general election will be better and more successful,” he said.
Speaker Pema Jungney declared present Secretary of CTA’s Department of Home as the new Chief Election Commissioner and Chairman of Public Service Commission at the recently concluded 8th parliamentary session after he secured 23 votes against 18 for Tashi Gyatso Shadrung, the current Secretary-General of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commissioner last month on 23 September.
Born in 1959, Wangdue Tsering Pesur joined the CTA in 1984 as a Junior Clerk; he was gradually promoted to the post of Office Superintendent, Under Secretary and Joint Secretary in 1988, 1996 and 2009 respectively.
He has also served as Director of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (2014- 2018), the premier performing arts school in exile that promotes and preserves a wide repertoire of musicals, dances and theatrical traditions of Tibet in his more than thirty-five years of service.
Since 1st December 2018, he has held the post of Secretary of the Department of Health.