Better Mangtso for the People of Tibet By Chime Youngdung
Today I am going to write about my views on our democracy in exile. Our exile democracy is still on its way to becoming fully democratic, so that is why sometimes it looks strange. When we talk to people from other democratic countries they laugh at some of our ways of democracy, such as double voting for monks, and being limited to representation based on provinces but not on population. We have enfranchisement but it is limited, so we are still on our way. Our status and structure of democracy are outdated; now it no longer works properly. Our democratic government has to progress to a new structure.
Currently we only have one house in parliament, without political parties and with representation based on Tibetan provinces. Other democratic governments have bicameral legislatures and multi-party systems. If we adopted these institutions, it would solve several of the problems we have in our system
One problem is that our parliament does not have proportional representation. Tibetans in exile vote according to the province in Tibet they originate from, not according to where they presently live. Currently, provinces with big populations get the same number of seats as provinces with small populations. This sort of system leads to inadequate representation of the people because those in big provinces are underrepresented. Moreover, this system prevents promising leaders from big provinces from becoming members of parliamentbecause the competition is so tough. If we switch to a bicameral parliament, the problem would be solved. We would still maintain representation of the provinces, but we would also more accurately represent the people. With a new house of parliament, Tibetans could directly elect individuals or vote for a political party regardless of where the candidate is from.
Another problem with our democracy is the date of election day. Too often, elections are held in the winter. The problem with this is that many young voters leave settlements during the winter in order to pursue seasonal business, leaving them unable to vote. This leaves only the older generation in the settlements on election day, which is one of the reasons why it is so difficult for new people to be elected to parliament. In order to ensure that all Tibetans have the opportunity to participate, we need to hold elections in more appropriate times of the year. Although the last elections were postponed until May, this is an issue that must be fixed with an amendment in the Charter.
Related to this is the problem faced by university students. Since they are away from home during elections, many students would have to travel back to the settlements in order to cast their votes. Unfortunately, this is expensive to do and most students cannot afford it. Moreover, their schedules do not allow them to take time off from classes in order to come home to vote. We should rectify this injustice by allowing voting at the universities that have the most Tibetan students. Allowing students to cast their ballots at university would increase political participation and lead to a parliament that is more representative of the Tibetan community.
We speak a lot about educating the Tibetan people about democracy and democratic values. This work is important in order to build a stronger, better democracy and to encourage people to vote. But voting loses its meaning if you are uninformed and have never met, heard or seen any of the candidates. As such, we must increase campaigning. Candidates for parliament have to visit the settlements, speak to the people, have debates and make their views known if voters are to make informed, responsible choices. Through campaigning, Tibetans will be able to choose the best person for the job. I think there should be more campaigning and education for Tibetans who live in the settlements: they are the most likely voters.
At the moment in our exile we lack leadership because of a lack of political parties. The one political party we do have is not recognized by the government because we do not have any rules and regulations for this in our exile charter. Political parties are useful for many reasons, but one of the more important reasons is the development of people to become leaders. Currently, it is up to the community to develop leaders. However, one of the roles of political parties is to develop leaders and ideas. The future of democracy in Tibet depends on a multi-party system that will create tomorrow’s leaders.
It should also be a priority to produce more leaders in exile and abroad. Many Tibetan students are studying political science in different universities and colleges. We should support those students and encourage them to be the future leaders of Tibet . I think the Tibetan international law students are also very important for the future of Tibet because without background knowledge of political science and international law they can’t be good leaders.
We need to think about the current situation and the long term goals of Tibet . If our previous generation had done this kind of preparation 20 years ago, we wouldn’t have a shortage of leadership today. Anyway, the past is the past; let us think about the future. If we work strongly for the future we can make a difference and produce many good leaders.
The problems noted above are difficult, but I do not think it will be very hard to pass a bill in our parliament about a political party system and bicameral parliament. For the upcoming elections, the NDPT will endorse many candidates. These candidates should then feel a responsibility to carry forth NDPT goals of reforming the system if they are elected. Should the NDPT win a majority of seats in parliament, we will definitely change the system for the better. By uniting in the upcoming campaign for Prime Minister and Parliament, we can perfect our democracy.
All the big changes in our democracy have come from His Holiness Dalai Lama. He gave us our democratic system and then later reformed it. As we all know, His Holiness Dalai Lama carries the entire weight of the Tibetan struggle on his shoulders. We must begin to help carry the load, to take responsibility for ourselves. One way to do this is to reform our democracy and progress to a stronger one. Through learning about democracy and taking an active participatory role, the Tibetan people will lessen the burden of His Holiness Dalai Lama.
Our main concern is what happens after His Holiness Dalai Lama. I believe if we have a bicameral parliament instead of a one house system, we can definitely survive and continue the struggle. Otherwise I do not believe in the current structure because it is not democratically proper. Parliament represents the provinces, not all Tibetans democratically. Parliament has also stopped working as it should; new voices and ideas are shut out. The way to change is to have direct representation of people and not of provinces in a multi-party system where true democratic deliberation can take place. If we can change our structure and election process, then we can make a difference and have a better mangtso for the people of Tibet .
Finally, all the members of parliament should read as many books on international politics as they can, as well as maintain a practical attitude in office.
By, Chime Youngdung
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