(TibetanReview.net, Mar19, 2015) – The ninth biannual session of the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile opened on Mar 16 with the discussion of the annual budget of the exile Tibetan Administration as its main agenda. In his opening remarks the Speaker, Mr Penpa Tsering, gave a general overview of the parliament’s agenda during its 12-day session, including the question whether Jonang should be given recognition as a distinct school of Tibetan Buddhism with the resultant allocation of two parliament seats to it and whether one more parliament seat should be created to give separate representation to Tibetans living in the Australasian region and another one for Tibetans living in North America.
The parliament opened with the adoption of two unanimous resolutions expressing solidarity with the Tibetan self-immolators and expressed condolences to the numerous Tibetans who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet. It reaffirmed the exile administration’s middle way approach of seeking autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule as the only viable solution to resolve the issue of Tibet with China.
During discussion of the solidarity resolution, several members expressed outrage over the unseemly spat which took place between Tibetans belonging to middle way supporters and independence campaigners during the 56th Tibetan national uprising day rally on Mar 10 in New York City and called for tolerance and broadmindedness on both the sides.
This is the penultimate of the five-year term of both the exile parliament and the Sikyong, the executive head of the exile administration.