Elections for the office of

Sikyong The () is the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, a Tibetan exile organisation also known as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile based on the 2011 Charter of Tibetans-in-exile. The title was created in 2012 after the 14th Dalai ...

(Prime Minister) and the Chitue (Members) of the

Tibetan Parliament in Exile The Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE), officially the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration, is the unicameral and highest legislative organ of the Central Tibetan Administration, the government-in-exile of the Tibet Autonomous Reg ...

were held between October 18, 2015 and March 20, 2016.

Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...

in exile voted for the fourth time their political representative and executive of the

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, comp ...

, the self-proclaimed Tibetan

government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...

. The election was overseen and organized by the independent CTA agency, Tibetan Election Commission. Incumbent Prime Minister

Lobsang Sangay Lobsang Sangay (, ; born 5 September 1968) is a Tibetan-American politician who was Kalon Tripa of the Tibetan Administration from 2011 to 2012, and Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration from 2012 to 2021. The Tibetan Administration ...

ran for re-election, winning with 57.3% of the votes in the second round, over his main rival Speaker of the Parliament in Exile, Penpa Tsering. Other candidates were Chairman of the Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives in India, Tashi Wangdu, and former Chinese political prisoner and president of Tibetan Ex-Political Prisoner's Association, Lukar Jam. For the first time this election showed and proliferation of political parties, something unusual in Tibetan politics. The National Democratic Party, a moderate independent leaning party, has traditionally been the only political party in the

Tibetan diaspora The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside Tibet. Tibetan emigration has three separate stages. The first stage was in 1959 following the 14th Dalai Lama's defection to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India. The s ...

. The NDPT endorsed both Sangay and Pempa Tsering for their current offices. The pro-Middle Way Approach Tibetan People's Party endorsed Wangdu and also presented its own candidates for Parliament. The radically separatist

Tibetan National Congress The Tibetan National Congress is a Tibetan political party in exile of pro-independence ideology founded on 13 February 2013. The party maintains more radical positions than the moderate pro-independence National Democratic Party (the major part ...

endorsed Jam.

Results

Sikyong

The preliminary round of voting for Sikyong was held on 18 October 2015. Candidates needed to receive at least 33% of the vote in order to be eligible for the final round. There were six candidates;

(incumbent Sikyong, endorsed by the National Democratic Party), Penpa Tsering (Speaker of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, also endorsed by NDPT), Atsok Lukar Jam (former political prisoner and activist, endorsed by

), Tashi Wangdu (President of the Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives in India, endorsed by People's Party of Tibet), Tashi Topgyal (independent candidate) and Samdhong Rinpoche. All candidates except Jam (who wants full independence of Tibet from China) supported the Middle Way Approach to Chinese-Tibetan relations. This is the same approach endorsed by the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

and seeks to achieve real autonomy for Tibet inside the Chinese territory.

References

{{Tibetan elections Central Tibetan Administration elections

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results