TIBETANS GO TO THE POLLS TODAY

Published by: World Tibet Network News 96/04/02 18:00 GMT

Focus on Integrity as They Vote in New Parliament Members

By: Thubten Samphel

DHARAMSALA, 2 April - Dawa Tsering is a simple spice-peddler. He

wears rags for clothes. A more practical-minded person than he

might have considered it better to improve his own economic lot

than wait in the long, crowded, jostling queue to cast his vote in

the Tibetan exiles' parliamentary elections.

But Dawa Tsering considered this election more important than to

add a few coins to his meagre livelihood. He had closed his shop

for the day, which meant folding the small amount of different

spices in the dusty, rectangular cloth placed on the only sidewalk

of McLeod Ganj's main street. "I am voting for people I trust, who

I know will serve the Tibetan government and not bring a bad name

to His Holiness the Dalai Lama," said Dawa Tsering as he shuffled

off to the polling booth.

As the estimated 130,000 Tibetan exiles went to the polls today,

the main electoral issue is electing Tibetan parliamentarians who

will serve the Dalai Lama better and more effectively. "We want to

elect good, capable representatives to the Tibetan parliament, and

not people who go after money, and who are regionalistic," said

Yondak Tsering Lhakpa, a member of the Kathmandu-based Tibetan

Opera Association, whose group participated in the recent Festival

of Tibetan Opera held in Dharamsala.

The same sentiment was echoed by Ngawang Lhamo, the general

secretary of the Tibetan Women's Association, whose nine

representatives managed to attended the NGO forum for the World

Women's Conference in Beijing September last. "I am voting for

people who will support our common cause and follow His Holiness

the Dalai Lama," said Ngawang Lhamo. She herself is a candidate in

the elections, having won the largest number of votes, some 1, 2368 in the preliminary elections last September.

In this election 102 candidates, from North America through Europe to India and Nepal, are competing for 43 seats in the reformed 12th Assembly of the Tibetan People's Deputies, the Tibetan parliament-in-exile. Both the increased number of candidates and the increased voter turnout is unprecedented in the Tibetan exiles' experiment with democracy. Dorje Damdul, the Election Commissioner, attributed this to two factors. "First is that the importance of democracy for the Tibetan struggle is growing among the Tibetan public. Second is the increased competition among the various candidates is refelcted on the voters."

The Election Commissioner said that in the preliminary elections last September, out of the 60,373 registered voters in the Tibetan exile world, about 50% voted. He expected the turnout to be higher in this, the final election.

There are a total of 46 seats in the Tibetan parliament. Three seats are reserved will be filled by the Dalai Lama who will nominate outstanding Tibetans in the fields of scholarship. The rest of the 43 seats are divided along regional lines. Each of the three regions of Tibet, north-eastern, eastern and central Tibet, are allotted with 10 seats. Two seats each are reserved for the respresentatives of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and for Tibet's old religion, Bon. The Tibetan community in Europe is allotted two seats and the one in North America one seat.

But new forces, new ideas are buffeting against this Tibetan

electoral set-up. One is the founding of the National Democratic

Party of Tibet (NDPT), whose aim is to make the Tibetan parliament

based on party-lines rather than being based, as it is, on regional lines. Candidates from this party have participated in the current elections. "The entrance of the NDPT will help our electoral system because it will make our voters better informed and give them a wider option for casting their votes," said Dawa Phunkyi, general secretary of the Delek Hospital. He said he voted for people who have principles and not readily fooled by others.

Dawa Phunkyi considered this election significant because "the new members of the Tibetan parliament have the responsibility of electing the members of the Tibetan cabinet," the highest executive body of the Tibetan administration.

Bceause of the irony of the Tibetan exile election is taking place all over the world, and because of the fact that the Tibetan electoral system has not been computerised, the results of the current election will be out only around May 18, according to Dorje Damdul, the Election Commissioner.

According to the Election Commissioner, this is the least expensive elections in the world. The total cost of holding this elections is only Rs 100,000, roughly $3,333.