Only two in fray for Tibetan PM polls
SHIMLA, Feb 4: With only two candidates in fray, election to the post of prime minister of Tibetan Government -in-Exile is set to witness direct contest between incumbent prime minister Lobsang Sangay and speaker Penpa Tsering. The final phase of election is scheduled to be held on March 20. In the run up to final election both Sangay and Tsering had secured maximum votes from the Tibetan voters spread across the world. In the first phase, 47,105 voters had voted them for top two positions among total candidates in fray.
By securing 30,508 votes, Sangay had bagged first position while Tsering had got 10,732 votes. On March 20, once again, 47,105 Tibetan voters would cast their ballots to elect the next prime minister.
CTA came into existence at Dharamshala after China imposed its rule on Tibet in 1950 and Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising. Since beginning, Dalai Lama was heading the CTA whose first election for an exile parliament was held on September 2, 1960. After Dalai Lama relinquished his political and administrative powers only to remain spiritual head of Tibetans across world, Dr Lobsang Sangay had become the first elected prime minister of Tibetan government-in-exile in 2011 to shoulder political and administrative responsibilities.
The election commission of central Tibetan administration on Wednesday announced the list of final candidates for the election. “As per article 67 (4) of the electoral rules and regulation, we have shortlisted two candidates for the final election of Sikyong 2016,” announced Sonam Choephel Shosur, chief election commissioner of CTA.
(TNN)