DHARMSALA, India (AP) – Tens of thousands of Tibetan exiles are voting around the world Sunday to elect a new prime minister and parliament for a second time since the Dalai Lama stepped down as head of the government in 2011 to focus on his role as a spiritual leader.
Buddhist monks in crimson robes lined up along with hundreds of Tibetan men and women in schools, government buildings and the courtyard of the Tsuglakhang Temple in India’s northern city of Dharmsala, where the exiled government is based, to cast their votes in a festive atmosphere.
Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay is running for re-election, and his opponent is parliament speaker Penpa Tsering. Both continue to support “a middle way” proposed by the Dalai Lama, which calls for seeking regional autonomy under Chinese rule. Both cast their votes in a government building.
Some 80,000 registered Tibetans in exile are voting in a daylong election. The result is expected next month.
Some groups have been advocating independence for Tibet as little progress has been made in the dialogue with China. But their representatives couldn’t win enough support in the first round of voting last year to be in the running for the prime minister’s post.