More than 90,000 Tibetans-in-exile on Sunday voted to elect a new Parliament and a new Prime Minister or "Sikyong" of the government-in-exile. PTI reported that the results for the 45 parliamentary seats will be declared on April 27.
Incumbent Lobsang Sangay, who is Harvard-educated, is contesting against Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament Penpa Tsering for the prime minister's post. Scores of Tibetans living in India cast their votes from Bengaluru, Darjeeling, Bylakuppe, Dehradun and Delhi. Votes also poured in from US, Russia, Japan and Australia. The preliminary round of the election was held in October 2015. This is the second direct election for the Tibetans-in-exile after Dalai Lama retired from politics in 2011.
On February 29, a 16-year-old Tibetan-in-exile immolated himself while shouting slogans of “Long live Dalai Lama” and “Free Tibet” in Dehradun. “This was the first time a teenager who has never even been to Tibet committed self-immolation in protest,” Sangay had told The Hindu at the time, indicating the new worries in the community.
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