Tibet's new PM has large shoes to fill while walking the middle path

The ballots have spoken: Dr Lobsang Sangay, born in India 43 years ago and educated at Harvard Law School will be Kalon Tripa, the prime minister of Tibet’s government-in-exile, for the next 5 years. Already a couple of weeks before the results were officially announced by the chief election commissioner, rumours were circulating that Sangay had gathered 27,000 votes in his tally, against 18,000 for Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, his nearest rival. The rumours were accurate.

Beijing must have known the results because on March 22 itself, an editorial of The People’s Daily complained: “In 1992, Lobsang Sangay rose to fame and became the youngest leading member of Tibetan Youth Congress, a terrorist organisation in nature.” The rather mild Tibetan youth organisation was thus described: “The crimes made the organisation look like a kin member of al Qaeda, Chechnyan armed terrorists and ‘East Turkistan’ separatists.”

Even more far-fetched, the Communist mouthpiece’s editorial affirmed: “The organisation also made preliminary plans to prepare personnel, funding and arms to steal into China through the China-Nepal border.” The paranoid Chinese state, which locks up behind bars whoever does not have the same views as the Party (the latest on the list are Nobel Laureate Lui Xiaobo and artist Weiwei), likes also to malign its opponents abroad.
For Beijing, Sangay’s crime is to have been, like thousands of other young Tibetans, a member of the Youth Congress several years ago. Just because the youth organisation does not adhere to the Dalai Lama’s Middle Path and believes in a more radical, though non-violent approach, they have been labelled ‘terrorists’.

The main difficulty for Sangay comes from that fact that on March 10, the Dalai Lama dropped a bombshell: he had decided to retire. The Tibetan leader explained why: “As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power. Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect.”
The elections were held in a specific context, just 10 days after the Dalai Lama’s announcement, not giving time for the electors to ‘digest’ the enormity of the news; most voters still believed that the Kalon Tripa was to function under the leadership of the Dalai Lama. Today, Sangay, the new Tibetan leader faces a different job description. Had the Dalai Lama’s decision been communicated earlier, it would have put the stakes of the elections in a different perspective.

Now, it will not be an easy task for Sangay to ‘replace’ the Dalai Lama. Many Tibetans in Dharamsala (mainly the older generation) are doubtful. Youth who elected the good-looking and articulate Sangay believe that he can breathe new life into exile politics. Only the future will be able to see if they are right.
A serious legal hurdle remains.

In June 1991, the Tibetan Assembly in exile had adopted a ‘Charter’, a sort of Constitution, which assigned specific functions to the Dalai Lama as the Head of State. With the recent announcement, the Assembly had no choice but to amend the Charter as the Tibetan leader’s functions will have to be allotted to other bodies or individuals. It was a difficult task for which a five member ‘Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee’ was formed. They were asked to suggest a legal solution to the tricky situation.

A few years ago, the Dalai Lama had spoken of his three life commitments. Tibet was third on the list: “It is not a voluntary commitment; it is due to past history and to the Dalai Lama institution. I am bound to this commitment and this responsibility, because I am the Dalai Lama who played a role in the past history of Tibet”.
The Drafting Committee has chosen the Middle Path, keeping in mind both aspects of the issue: the past historical role of the Dalai Lamas as well as his request to be relieved of all day-to-day responsibilities. The draft prepared by the Committee asserts that the Assembly should amend the Charter to take care of the Dalai Lama’s request, while safeguarding the continuity of the Central Tibetan Administration as the legitimate governing body of the Tibetans in exile.

The solution is to add a Preamble to the Charter. Termed as the ‘Protector and the Symbol of the Tibetan Nation’, the Dalai Lama, the human manifestation of Avaloketeshvara, will remain “the guardian and protector of the Tibetan nation … He is the guide illuminating the path, the supreme leader, the symbol of the Tibetan identity and unity, and the voice of the whole Tibetan people.” In a way, this Middle Path solution should satisfy all the parties involved, except Beijing perhaps. It does not mean that Sangay’s job will be an easy one.

The author is a French-born writer and journalist.