From Dharamsala, India the Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration announced that the preliminary election for Sikyong (A Tibetan term meaning Political Leader) and members of the 16th Tibetan Parliament will be held on October 18, 2015 and the final elections to be followed on March 20, 2016.
In a 2011 public statement on the 52nd Anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising, the Dalai Lama built upon the democratic reforms he introduced in the 1960’s and strengthened the Tibetan democratic system when he requested to more fully devolve his political power to an elected leadership. Since then, the Tibetan people have implemented elections in exile Tibetan communities all over the world to elect their political leader and Parliament.
In solidarity, the Asia Democracy Network in cooperation with the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), the International Campaign for Tibet, and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) will be observing the preliminary elections for the Sikyong and members of the 16th Tibetan Parliament from October 15-20,2015.
We stand in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their quest for democracy and their history in the making effort to redefine the meaning of democracy being restricted to States. We are looking forward to observing the principles of democracy being upheld through the will of a community that is overcoming the obstacles of being stateless.
In Solidarity,
Asia Democracy Network
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