Tsering front-runner for the post of Sikyong

 Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 8

Former Speaker of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile Penpa Tsering has emerged as the front-runner in preliminary round of the elections held for the post president (Sikyong) of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) also known as Tibetan government-in-exile, the result for which were declared today.

Election Commissioner Wangdu Tsering announced that Penpa Tsering was leading in the first round of elections securing 24,488 votes. He was followed by Kalsang Dorjee, former bureaucrat in CTA, securing close to 14,554 votes. Gyari Dolma, former home minister, trailed Dorjee with a difference of around 1,200 votes, leaving her out of the race for Sikyong. She got 13,363 votes. A total of about 60,000 exile Tibetans out of 80,000 in 30 different countries across the world cast their votes in the elections held in January.

Penpa Tsering was born in the Bylakuppe refugee camp in 1967. He attended the Central School for Tibetans (Bylakuppe), topping the merit list in Class XII and later did his graduation from Madras Christian College, Chennai, where he majored in economics.

He served as the general secretary for the Tibetan Freedom Movement and the Nigerian Tibet Friendship Association during his college years. He ran a private export business and later a restaurant.

He served as Executive Director at the Tibetan Parliamentary and Research Centre (TPPRC) at New Delhi from 2001-2008.

He was elected to the 12th and 13th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and became Speaker of the House of the 14th Parliament -in-Exile in 2008 and was re-elected the following term.

He was appointed as the North America Representative of the Dalai Lama in 2016 for a year. Penpa Tsering had differences with present incumbent Lobsang Sangay and was removed as representative in the USA and also faced an inquiry.