Reportage – 2006

Samdhong Rinpoche re-elected as the Prime Minister

A file photo of Samdhong Rinpoche taken at TIPA on 31 March 2006. [ click here for print size   3.1M ]

DEHRA DUN, India, 3 July 2006 — Samdhong Rinpoche, the current Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, has won the elections with a landslide majority to return to the post for a second term.

Of the total 32,205 votes cast in the final round of elections held on 3 June 2006 within the Tibetan Diaspora, Samdhong Rinpoche got 29,216 votes, standing at 90.72%, and his opponent, a former Prime Minister Juchen Thubten Namgyal got 2,989 votes, according to the web site of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Thubten Namgyal, however, was requested by the Election Commission of the exiled government to remain in the fray after the rest of the candidates resigned, he told this reporter a few days back. He has served the post as the appointed Prime Minister by the Dalai Lama for 15 years in the past.

Rinpoche's return to the post is not likely to bring major changes to the Tibetan polity. During a face-to-face meeting with the press and the public in May, he said his policies will remain unchanged if he was re-elected to the post.

His first and foremost responsibility will be to engage with the Chinese leadership to find an amicable solution to the Tibetan issue. His second priority will be to look after the welfare of the Tibetans settled in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Education of the youth will be another area of his attention.

Samdhong Rinpoche was born on 5 November 1939 in Jol, Eastern Tibet, a region known for its warrior traditions. At the age of five, he was recognized as the reincarnation of 4th Samdhong Rinpoche. When he was 12 he left his home to go to Drepung Monastery in Lhasa for higher education. He fled to exile in the year 1959 after the Chinese invasion of Tibet.

He has served the exiled Tibetan community for over four decades as an educationist, philosopher and lately as a politician. After serving as the Chairman of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile for a decade from 1991, he aspired to a reclusive life in order to begin his efforts for the cause of non-violence. However, he had to relinquish this desire after receiving overwhelming requests from the exile Tibetans to accept the post of Prime Minister.

Rinpoche became the first elected Prime Minister in September 2001 after Tibetans in the free world exercised ther voting rights. The new system of electing the post of Prime Minister was the result of an initiative by the Dalai Lama.