Exiled Tibetans to elect leader to sustain struggle against China

Exiled Tibetans across India and overseas started voting on Sunday to elect a political leader for the next five years, in a bid to help sustain their struggle to secure complete autonomy for Chinese-ruled Tibet. Thousands of monks and nuns in maroon robes, students, and men and women queued to vote outside polling booths in Dharamsala, a town in India’s Himalayan foothills where a community of Tibetans live in exile with the Dalai Lama, hoping for resumption of talks with China. The second such election follows a decision by the charismatic monk, an 80-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate, to relinquish his political authority and vest it in a democratic system that could outlast him.

It takes two to clap. Our side is willing and ready and as soon as the Chinese give us the positive sign, we will be ready to take it further.

Lobsang Sangay, the incumbent Sikyong

China does not recognize the government that represents nearly 100,000 exiled Tibetans living in around 30 countries including India, Nepal, Canada and the United States. Election results will be out between April 27 and 28, with more than half of the 90,377 eligible voters expected to exercise their franchise, according to the election commission. The “Sikyong”, or elected leader, will be solely responsible for political and diplomatic decisions, as the Dalai Lama steps back from the limelight amid uncertainty over how his successor will be chosen and worries about his health following a spell in hospital in the U.S.

Tibetan