(TibetanReview.net, Dec23’25) – The Central Tibetan Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has on Dec 23 barred Mr Tashi Topgyal, alias Tashi Topgyal Lugdzi, from voting or standing for election for the next five years for his baseless attacks on it as well as for violating several provisions of the election rules and the Charter of Tibetans in Exile. The Commission also announced, at a press conference, that a total of 92,042 Tibetan had registered to vote in the upcoming Feb-Apr 2026 elections.
Tashi Topgyal had volunteered to stand for election as the Sikyong, the executive head, of the CTA. At a press conference on Nov 29, he said that he did not care whether he was violating the rules, the commission pointed out, quoting himself, while making the announcement to penalise him.
Polling in the exile Tibetan elections will take place in two stages. A preliminary poll will be held on Feb 1 for the eligible voters to elect lists of candidates for the Sikyong and the 45-member, 18th Tibetan Parliament in Exile.
There will be no official lists of candidates, although a number people have been volunteering and soliciting votes for their inclusion in the list and for their eventual election during the final poll which will take place on Apr 26.
The commission had earlier announced that only the potential candidates grossing the two highest numbers of votes in the preliminary poll will be the candidates for the final poll for the Sikyong election.
Tashi Topgyal, an army veteran, has stood for election for the same post in the past two elections too, winning only a handful of votes each time.
The parliament seats are divided 10 each for the three traditional provinces of Tibet and two each for the four Tibetan Buddhist religious schools and for the followers of the pre-Buddhist Tibetan religion Bon, irrespective of the number of voters in each constituency, for the voters in India, Nepal and Bhutan. The remaining five seats are filled by Tibetan voters in other free countries from amongst themselves.
Of the total number of registered voters for the upcoming polls, 56,749 are from India India, Nepal and Bhutan, and the remaining 34,293 from other free countries, said the Tibetan Election Commission.
At the press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Mr Lobsang Yeshi urged those getting voted in as candidates in the preliminary polls to actively participate in media programmes designed to introduce them and to engage in other public platforms aimed at enhancing voter awareness.