Kashag Attends House But Sticks to its Decision
Dharamsala, 15 September 2003: Two days after the walkout by the Kalon Tripa and his Kashag, the Assembly today began with a clarification from Deputy Sonam Topgyal.
Deputy Sonam Topgyal told the house that he is withdrawing his words since he was requested to do so by the other Deputies during the informal meetings held after the Kashag’s walkout.
“….. I withdraw my word which led to the Kalon Tripa’s disappointment and request the Chairperson to expunge it from the Assembly’s record…”, Deputy Sonam Topgyal said.
” If the Kalon Tripa is facing difficulty in performing his duties, I withdraw my word and request the Chairman to expunge my statement from the record of the assembly”, he continued.
The Kalon Tripa sought the permission of the Chairperson to give his statement after the morning recess. After the recess, the Kashag attended the house with its statement of clarification over the statement made today by Deputy Sonam Topgyal.
The Kalon Tripa in his statement said it is wrong to think that the Assembly’s proceedings get hampered due to Kashag’s absence. He expressed concerns over the fact that though Deputy Sonam Topgyal has asked to withdraw his word from the Assembly’s record the ‘doubt’ over his person has still not been cleared off.
Reiterating his earlier stand, the Kalon Tripa said that the matter should be probed into since a Kashag led by an individual whose moral character is in question can not be able to perform its duties before the Assembly.
He told the house that the decision was taken together with his Kalons after thorough discussions.
He also said that the Kashag will attend the house if the Assembly directs it to do so but on the condition of the absence of the Deputy in question.
Meanwhile, the house debated over the electoral rules and regulations of the Kalon Tripa’s election. A bill presented before the house by Deputy Karma Choephel and supported by Deputy Gyari Bhutuk says that no election should be held if there is only one candidate for the post of Kalon Tripa after the preliminary round and that the requirement of a certain percentage of votes for the Kalon Tripa should also be reviewed.
He said that a candidate should be declared unopposed when there is no one competing him or her. The present provision in the Charter says that there should be a minimum of two candidates otherwise there should be reelection.
At the time of this report going online, the debate on the electoral rules and regulations for the Kalon Tripa’s election was going on.