MEPs
laud the Tibetan elections and call for EU and other International
actors’ support to the newly elected representatives of the CTA
Brussels,
March 23 : Tibetan exiles in Belgium and elsewhere in the free world on
Sunday went to polls to elect the new Kalon Tripa (Chief of Cabinet)
and also new Members of their Parliament in exile.Mr. Edward
McMillan-Scott (UK), Vice-President of the European Parliament and Ms.
Heidi Hautala (Finland), Chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee in the
European Parliament, two of the few other MEPs who sent their
representatives on Election Observation Mission in India and other
parts of the world issued statements shortly after the elections.McMillan-Scott,
who visited Tibet in 1996 while writing a report on EU-China relations
praised the peaceful election and said the Chinese government could
learn from this democratic process. “Since the establishment of
the Tibetan Government in Exile in September 1960, the Tibetans, unlike
their Chinese counterparts, have been free to elect their
parliamentarians. This benchmark of fairness and transparency is a
model for a future democratic China” said Mr. McMillant-Scott in a
press release issued on the 21st of March 2011.“The now elected
Prime Minister will have to fill the role of the full political leader
of Tibetans. EU and other international actors should support the newly
elected representatives in this. Maybe it will be now easier for the
governments to meet officially both His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the
new Prime Minister, as their roles will be clearly separated?” said Ms.
Hautala.She further said “I am deeply concerned about the
unfortunate situation in Nepal. It seems that 10.000 Tibetans were not
allowed to vote in Kathmandu. This shows a worrying trend for democracy
in Nepal and consenting to the Chinese pressure. I urge the Nepalese
government to fulfil its obligations to international human rights
standards and not to hinder the development of the Tibetan democracy”.Ms.
Hautala also signed an appeal to the Nepalese government almost one
month prior to the election date, to provide full cooperation in the
Tibetan elections.The complete texts of the statements are available on the following links;http://www.heidihautala.fi/2011/03/democracy-for-tibet/http://www.alde.eu/event-seminar/events-details/article/tibetan-uprising-52-years-37278/–Report filed by Rigzin Choedon Genkhang
