10th Session of Tibetan Parliament Begins[Tuesday, 7 September 2010, 5:11 p.m.]

Mr Penpa Tsering, Speaker of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, delivers his opening address during the tenth session of the parliament which began Tuesday, 7 September 2010/Photos by Tenzin Dhonyoe

Dharamshala: The tenth session of the 14th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has begun this morning.In
his opening address, Speaker Penpa Tsering gave an overview of the
recently held first Tibetan National General Meeting, conferment of
Gold Medal to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the celebration of 50th
anniversary of Tibetan democracy day.The Speaker said the
delegates of national general meeting had an extensive six-day
discussion on a wide range of issues such as political affairs,
promotion of democracy, religion, culture, sustenance of settlements,
education, health, economy and welfare of Tibetans, among others.Even
though the recommendations of the meeting are yet to become laws, the
Kashag and the Parliament in future must be answerable to the general
public on the implementation of these recommendations, he said.The
Speaker expressed deep concern over the prevailing political repression
inside Tibet and the decreasing number of Tibetan refugees due to tight
control on the border of Tibet and Nepal.

He also
highlighted numerous measures employed by the Chinese government in
arresting and alleging leading Tibetan spiritual figures, scholars,
singers, who extend remarkable service for the benefit of Tibet’s
culture, religion, environment and social welfare.If the
Chinese government think carefully about its policies on Tibet, these
measures will not help to promote harmony between the Tibetan and
Chinese peoples in the long run, he said.Similarly, measures to
annihilate the identity of Tibetan people through projects implemented
under the pretext of development in Tibet will create impediment in
resolving the issue of Tibet and harm the long-term relations between
the Chinese and Tibetan people.The Speaker called on the
administration and the general public to make a concerted effort to
follow the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.The
Parliament passed three condolence resolutions on the opening session.
The members observed a minute’s silence to mourn: (1) the natural
calamities in Kyegudo and Drugchu in Tibet (2) demise of Mr Gomang
Tenpa, former member of Tibetan Parliament and (3) demise of
parliamentary secretary Mr Phurbu Tsering.The departments of
the Central Tibetan Administration will present their work reports for
the year 2009-2010 during this session.The session will last until 17 September.