Photo Story: ‘Life in Exile’ – Parliament Proceeding in Action

Let us detour and observe one of the most happening and exciting events of the Tibetan community in exile i.e The proceedings of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile which is currently in session. Although we Tibetans are refugees but we exercise the highest level of democracy. The sessions of the Tibetan Parliament has become one of the most important part of our exile community. Sessions of the Parliament are held twice every year, with an interval of six months between the sessions. The members of the Tibetan Parliament who are the elected representatives of the general Tibetan public express the grievances of the people in the parliament. They also assess the performances of the Kashag thereby creating a fine check and balance among the three pillars of democracy namely the executive (Kashag), legislative (Chithu) and Judiciary (Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission).

The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile is the unicameral and highest legislative organ of the Central Tibetan Administration. Currently the 5th session of 16th parliament is underway.

Today, the Parliament consists of 45 members: ten members each from Ü-Tsang, Kham, and Amdo, the three traditional provinces of Tibet; the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the traditional Bön faith elect two members each; five members are elected by Tibetans in the west: two from Europe, one from Australasia (excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan) and two from North America.

With vision and guidance from His Holiness, the process to democratise the Tibetan polity was started a longtime ago. Gradually elections were duly held and the first elected representative body in Tibetan’s history “The Commission of Tibetan People’s Deputies (CTPD)” took oath on 2 September 1960. This historic date is observed by the Tibetan exile community as Tibetan Democracy Day.

The inaugural 5th session of the parliament proposed three official resolutions of mourning to condole the demise of self-immolators Tenga, Konpe and Tsekho, staunch Tibet supporter Dr N K Trikha, and former Tibetan parliamentarian Lobsang Tenzin. It also proposed an official resolution to express the solidarity with Tibetan people inside Tibet in their suffering due to the critical situation inside Tibet.

The budget session of the parliament will discuss and approve the budget of the various departments and offices under the Central Tibetan Administration for the year 2018-19. The session will end by 24 March 2018.

Let us walk through the 5th session lively moments.