THE SNOW LION NEWSLETTER

Samdhong Rinpoche is Elected Exile-Government's First Prime Minister

On September 5, 2001, Samdhong Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche, was elected Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Samdhong Rinpoche, who has served in the Tibetan exile administration for four decades, was selected by the majority of all Tibetans with voting rights in the free world. The new system of election was the result of an initiative of HH the Dalai Lama.

One of Samdhong Rinpoche's first actions after taking the oath of office was to request that the Dalai Lama not transfer all of his exective responsibilities to the new democratically elected Kashag Chairperson and the Assembly of Tibetan People's Deputies. Rinpoche asked the Dalai Lama "to continue to exercise his traditional administrative responsibilities in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the Tibetans in Exile... I trust HH will consider my request with loving-kindness."

In March of this year, Samdhong Rinpoche had left public service and had decided to set out on "a reclusive life in order to begin my efforts for the cause of non-violence." After numerous requests from most of the exile Tibetan communities, he relinquished his personal desires and accepted the responsibilities of Prime Minister.

In his acceptance speech Sam-dhong said, "I believe we Tibetans need to establish a non-violent society to serve as a model for the rest of the world. In order to do this, we should first develop a culture of ahimsa [non-violence] in our exile communities. We can begin by designing projects for non-violent means of livelihood in the exile communities. Tibetan settlements in India are ideal places for undertaking this experiment. In short, I intend to promote the Gandhian concept of gram swaraj [village self-rule] in our settlements. Especially I intend to promote non-violent and eco-friendly agricultural and farming practices in our settlements.

"Henry David Thoreau said 'the government is best which governs not at all.' In the similar vein, Mahatma Gandhi said 'Swaraj does not mean others governed by oneself, but the self governed by oneself.' This is the kind of administration I am hoping for."

Samdhong also stated that, "It is very much within our means to serve the exile Tibetans and make the Administration more efficient. I also believe that the Administration should be completely transparent and accountable. I intend to make efforts to facilitate the formulation of clear-cut religious, educational, home and health policies- policies that take into account both the culture of Tibet and the practical needs of time. More particularly, I intend to facilitate the formulation of a standard financial policy. I will pay special attention to introducing austerity measures; to limiting administrative spending to the absolute necessity."

As for the cause of the Tibetan homeland, Samdhong said, "I will make every effort to restore direct contacts with Beijing and to increase international support toward this end. I consider it important to promote interaction and better understanding between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. Whether we succeed or fail will depend on the Chinese government and international political developments."

The full text of Samdhong Rinpoche's speech can be seen at http://www.tibet.ca.