On March 9, 2011, just one day before the 52nd anniversary of the Lhasa Uprising, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, announced his retirement as leader of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile.
The Dalai Lama’s retirement marks the first step toward separating church and state and creating a non-theistic structure as the people of Tibet take steps toward mediating Tibetan-Chinese relations. Despite leaving his role as political leader, though, the Dalai Lama plans to retain his title as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan People. Since his announcement, there have been steps taken to elect a new leader of the exiled government. There are currently three candidates for the position.
Lobsang Sangay, a graduate of Harvard Law and a prominent Tibetan Scholar, is currently leading in preliminary elections. Sangay, the youngest of the three candidates, is seen as the more moderate candidate, with a platform focusing on mediation between China and Tibet. In 1992, at the age of 24, Sangay became the youngest executive member of the Tibetan Youth Congress, and his diplomatic relationship with China is stronger than the other candidates, giving lectures on conflict resolution between Indo-Tibetan exiles and political leaders in China.
Tenzin Tethong, a Tibetan Studies professor at Stanford University, is a former personal representative to the Dalai Lama himself and, upon arrival to the United States from India, served as a coordinator to structuring the current Tibetan encampments throughout both the U.S. and Canada. His work has been seen as the major reason for success of Tibetan exiles in North America and has many of his votes coming from American immigrant groups.
Tashi Wangdi is the current representative for the Dalai Lama. He remains in India and is the closest to the day-to-day affairs of the Tibetan legislative system. Though lacking in pedigree, Wangdi benefits from his close ties to the current government.
After spending part of this past fall in Tibet and discussing this with a close Tibetan friend of mine who is currently living in exile, I was informed about the opinions of the Tibetan people. Sangay, who is looking more and more likely to become the next leader of Tibet, is often credited for his academic merit but has the least experience in actual government relations. Is this what Tibet needs? A young mind like Sangay to revitalize the people? Or do they need a more practical and experienced leader like Tenzin Tethong or Tashi Wangdi? The next several months will be very telling as to what the future holds for the Tibetan Government in Exile.
