By IANS,
Dharamsala: The grand congregation of exiled Tibetans to deliberate on draft constitutional amendments in the Tibetan Charter concluded here Tuesday with the gathering unanimously approving a proposal to request their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, not to give up his ceremonial duties.
The four-day meeting attended by the Tibetan diaspora deliberated on the draft amendments to the charter (constitution) on the devolution of the spiritual leader’s political and administrative powers to the democratically-elected leadership.
A spokesperson for the government-in-exile told IANS that the meeting also endorsed a proposal to request the Nobel laureate to accept the inclusion of the new preamble and responsibilities assigned to him in Article 1 of the charter in case he does not wish to become the ceremonial head of the state.
The two proposals will be presented to the Dalai Lama Wednesday.
He will also address the delegates.
The meeting also discussed other amendments to the charter, which include the executive powers assigned to the Dalai Lama in Article 19. Nine provisions under Article 19 would be passed on to the Kashag (cabinet) and the parliament-in-exile.
The parliament will meet for a special session May 26-28 to approve the amendments.
The Dalai Lama will then ratify the amendments to the charter, said the spokesperson.
In his closing remarks to the diaspora, parliament speaker Penpa Tsering said the general meeting has sent a strong signal to the Chinese government that the Tibetan people are united on the fundamental issues of Tibet.
He underscored that the newly-elected Kalon Tripa (prime minister) and the new members of parliament would have even greater responsibilities to shoulder in the near future.
The grand session, which was to conclude Monday, had been extended by a day following the Dalai Lama’s advice.
As many as 418 participants from 20 countries, including India, Nepal, Bhutan and the US, as also from Europe, participated in the session.
The elderly monk formally announced his political retirement at the onset of the budget session March 14.
The Dalai Lama has lived in India since 1959 when he fled his homeland after a failed uprising against communist rule. His government-in-exile is based here but is not recognised by any country.
Some 140,000 Tibetans live in exile around the world, over 100,000 of them in India.