(TibetanReview.net, Jun02, 2016) – The Tibetan Parliament in Exile on Jun 1 approved all the six Kalon (minister) nominees made by the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay with varied majority votes. All but one are new, with two of them being long-serving exile Tibetan administration bureaucrats.
And so, headed by the Sikyong, the new Kashag (cabinet) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) is made up of: Mr Ngodup Tsering, former Education Kalon who continues on this post; Ven Karma Gelek Yuthok, former Secretary of the Kashag Secretariat and now the Kalon for Religion and Culture; Mr Sonam Topgyal Khorlatsang, former Home Secretary and now its Kalon; Mr Labrang Phagpa Tsering, former Security Secretary and now its Kalon; Mr Karma Yeshi, former U-Tsang MP and now the Finance Kalon; Mr Choekyong Wangchuk, a former Dotoe MP and now the Health Kalon; and Ms Dhardon Sharling, a former U-Tsang MP and now the Information and International Relations Kalon.
While proposing their names, the Sikyong clarified, especially when proposing the names of Choekyong Wangchuk and Karma Yeshi, both former Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) Central Executive Committee members, that all his new ministerial colleagues fully supported the CTA’s middle way policy of seeking autonomy, not independence, for Tibet. The TYC campaigns for Tibet’s complete independence from Chinese rule.
Mr Kargyu Dhondup, the Chief Justice Commissioner of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission, administered the oath of office to the new Kalons later in the afternoon.
Mr Ngodup Tsering, born in 1953, is the oldest, while Ms Sharling, born in 1981, is the youngest.
The 16th Tibetan Parliament in Exile began its first session on Jun 1 after the approval of the Kalons. The first day saw the new parliament adopting three resolutions of mourning and four resolutions of solidarity with the Tibetan people in Chinese ruled Tibet.