14th Tibetan Assembly Opens Its First Session
Friday, 2 June 2006, 9:00 AM
The chairperson presiding over the first Assembly session |
Dharamshala: The deputies elected Mr. Karma Choephel and Mr. Penpa Tsering as the new Chairmen and Mrs. Dolma Gyari as the new Vice-chair of the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (ATPD).
Mr. Karma Choephel and Mr. Penpa Tsering had polled 50% of the vote in all four rounds of election for chairperson held among the deputies on 30 May 2006.
The deputies reached a consensus that both the contenders will hold the post of chairman of the Tibetan Assembly for a period of two and half years each.
While Mrs Gyari won the Vice-chair election by a margin of 27 votes against Ven. Yondung Gyaltsen who got 10 votes and Mrs. Dolma Tsering, who got 5 votes.
Yesterday the 14th ATPD began its first session and Chairman Karma Choephel opened the proceedings with a short speech.
The chairman read His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message to the first session of the Tibetan Assembly.
In his message, His Holiness the Dalai Lama conveyed his greetings and prayers for the members of the 14th ATPD and calls on to formulate sound policies and to commit themselves fully to the welfare of the Tibetan people.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama mentioned that still sometimes disagreement arises among different constituencies and religious denominations and people tend to focus on individual rather than our common cause. His Holiness urged the assembly members to focus on work and to strengthen unity in this critical time for Tibetan people.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama mentioned that he believes the Assembly, as before, will support the mutually beneficial Middle-Way Approach in resolving the issue of Tibet through negotiations.
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