Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

National Democratic Party of Tibet

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President
  
Gelek Jamyang

Headquarters
  
Dharamsala, India

Political position
  
Right-wing

Founded
  
1994 (1994)

Membership
  
5000 worldwide

Ideology
  
Moderate independenceTibetan nationalismConservatismConstitutional monarchism

National Democratic Party of Tibet (Tibetan: བོད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་མང་གཙོ་ཚོགས་པ།) is the primary political party of the Tibetan government in exile, officially the Central Tibetan Administration, based in India.

Contents

It was founded on September 2, 1994, but the seeds of the party were planted by the 14th Dalai Lama at a meeting of the Tibetan Youth Congress in 1990. Based on that meeting, leaders of the congress began drawing up a constitution. Mr. TT Karma Chophel was elected the first President of the NDPT, and ten other executive members were chosen.

Structure and activities

According to the party, its main aim and objectives are to prepare for the establishment of the political parties in a future Tibet, to promote democracy, to educate the Tibetan people about the significance of political parties, and to create awareness among the people about Tibetan issues.

In 2008, the party held workshops on democracy in Tibetan settlements located in remote parts of India, where the Tibetan community was taught about democracy as a value. In the 5th National Convention, the party passed a bill to support Tibetan political science students in different universities.

This party played an important role in arousing political discussions in exile. The party supported Dr. Lobsang Sangay both during the 2011 and 2016 Tibetan Election for Kalon Tripa, now termed Sikyong (Prime Minister) to head the Central Tibetan Administration. However, in 2016 the party nominated Speaker Penpa Tsering along with Dr. Sangay to provide wider choice to the Tibetan diaspora.

Leaders of the party

  • TT Karma Chophel (1994–1996)
  • Kunga Tsering (1996–1997)
  • Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok (1997–2000 and 2000–2004)
  • TT Karma Chophel (2004–2006)
  • Chime Youngdung (2006–2012)
  • Gelek Jamyang (2012–2016)biography of Gelek Jamyang hails from Tibet and he was born on 1984 in Kham Derge region of Tibet. He fled to exile in 1996. He got his formal schooling from Tibetan Homes Foundation, Mussoorie. After his schooling, he enrolled into Punjab University in Chandigarh for a graduate degree. He went on to obtain a master's degree in History from the same University. Meanwhile, he gained a Diploma in Software Technology by enrolling in computer classes in his spare times. Throughout his schooling and college, he discharged duties in various capacities. In 2006, during his final year at school, he assumed responsibilities as the Vice-captain of the school. In 2007, during his fresh man year at the college, he took on the responsibility as the General Secretary of the Regional Tibetan Freedom Movement, Chandigarh. In 2008, he was elected to the post of the President of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Chandigarh. In 2009, he took on the twin tasks of supervising both the Regional Tibetan Freedom Movement as well as the Regional National Democratic Party of Tibet as their president. He served as president of the overseas students Association Government College for two consecutive academic years. In 2011, He was re-elected as the president of Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Chandigarh. He was elected as a President of the central executive during the 6th national convention of the National Democratic Party of Tibet in May 2012.

    • Opposition

    In May 2011, Tenzin Rabgyal founded the People's Party of Tibet in an effort to bring plurality to the democratic process for Tibetans. The party does not currently hold any seats in the Tibetan parliament however.

    References

    National Democratic Party of Tibet Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA