In an important political development of the Tibetan, people living in asylum at Dharamshala today re-elected its incumbent Prime Minister also named as Sikyong in Tibetan parlance Dr. Lobsang Sangay who defeated speaker of the Tibetan Parliament Mr. Penpa Tsering.
Mr. Sonam Choephel Shosur, the chief election commissioner, accompanied by Ven Tempa Tashi and Mr. Tenzin Choephel, the two additional election commissioners, declared the consolidated results of the final Tibetan general election today.
Speaking at the press conference, Mr. Sonam Choephel Shosur said: “Although there are approximately 150,000 Tibetans in exile, a total of 90,377 Tibetans registered for the final election. However, only 59,353 people actually turned up to vote in the final Sikyong elections and 58,615 turned up to vote in the final elections of the 16th Tibetan Parliament.”
“Out of the total 59,353 actual voters in the Sikyong election, 613 votes were disqualified while 591 votes from the total of 58,615 actual votes cast for the Tibetan parliamentary election were disqualified,” he added.
Announcing Dr. Lobsang Sangay as the winner of the final Sikyong elections, he said: “As per article 67(5) of the electoral rules and regulation, the Sikyong candidate with the largest number of secret ballots cast by the public will be declared the winner.”
“Therefore, Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the incumbent Sikyong, is re-elected as the Sikyong for another 5-year term. Dr. Lobsang Sangay has got a total of 33,876 votes (57.08 % of the total vote share) as against the 24,864 votes (41.89% of the total vote share) in the name of Mr. Penpa Tsering, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament,” he explained.
“Similarly, as per article 51(1) of the electoral rules and regulation, a total of 45 members are elected for the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. The 45-member Tibetan Parliament is composed of 10 members each from the three traditional provinces of Tibet; two each from the five religious constituencies, two each from the Tibetan communities in North America and Europe and one from the Tibetan community in Australasia (excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan),” he noted.
“The Election Commission heartily congratulates the winners of both the Sikyong and Tibetan Parliamentary election,” the election commissioner said.