Dharamla, March 16: The Tibetan cabinet on Tuesday accepted the Dalai Lama’s decision to retire as the political head of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
“With heavy heart, we have to accept His Holiness’s decision of retirement as political head of the state,” said Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan government-in-exile, in the Tibetan parliament. The seven Cabinet members unanimously accepted the Dalai Lama’s decision.
However, the Tibetan parliament is yet to agree with the decision. Out of the 43 members of the parliament, 41 have shown disagreement. Only two members, Kunchuk Choeden and Lhamo Kyap, have agreed with the Dalai Lama’s decision. Both said in parliament that they agreed with the Dalai Lama’s decision and the time has come to introduce a change.
A Proceedings Committee of seven members, headed by Speaker Penpa Tsering, was constituted on Tuesday. The committee will go through the deliberations made by all the MPs and then decide the course of action.
Although they accepted the Dalai Lama’s decision, the cabinet ministers feel that the decision will not be accepted by parliament. “The cabinet had been accepting the wishes and orders of His Holiness. This decision, wherein he has expressed his wish to retire as the political leader of the Tibetans, has also been accepted by the Cabinet. But since members of parliament are elected representatives of the people, it is unlikely that they will accept this decision. People are not ready to accept the Dalai Lama’s decision to retire,” said Rinpoche.
“If the Dalai Lama has wished that the time has come when such a change is required, we all need to think of best possible ways to implement such a change,” he added. Dawa Tsering, MP, said, “If the Dalai Lama retires as the political head of the state, it will bring in a major disconnect between the people inside and outside Tibet. It is not at all acceptable.”
“How could we accept such a decision. It will gravely affect the ongoing talks with Chinese. Such a decision will have grave ramifications at the international level as well. Moreover, 99 per cent of the Tibetans are not going anybody except Dalai Lama to head them,” said Karma Choephel, another member of the Tibetan parliament.
–Agencies–