Young, newcomer to politics and without much administrative experience. This is the political profile of the bowels pass Tibetan(prime minister). Lobsang Sangay has never set foot in Tibet, but it has strong connections with the territory and its history. He was born in a Tibetan settlement in Darjeeling (India) of Tibetan refugee parents. His father was a monk who fled Tibet in 1959, the same year as the Dalai Lama. His uncle was shot to death. your aunt, unable to tolerate the daily injustices of his life, she committed suicide by jumping into a river while pregnant. Sangay attended Delhi University and became the first Tibetan to achieve a degree from Harvard Law School.. He stayed there as an academic, organizing conferences between Chinese and Tibetan scholars during the 2000s. The Dalai Lama's decision in 2011 of ceding political power opened an electoral process, from which Sangay was elected, against all odds, and with him 55% of the votes. Recognize fun to dispatch with him Dalai Lama It is a privilege that no other world leader has and that after speaking with him, the problems seem insignificant.
Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister of Tibet in exile
Photo © Angel Lopez Soto, member ofGEA PHOTOWORDS
.Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister of Tibet in Exile
`The Middle Way is the strategy to find a solution for Tibetans´
ByMercedes Iniguez Quintela forGEA PHOTOWORDS
The cornerstone of Tibet policy in recent years and of the strategy towards China has been the call “Middle Path”, or the idea that through dialogue and non-violence, Tibetans can achieve autonomy within China, similar to what Hong Kong or Macau enjoy today. Meanwhile, Sangay rules in exile from Dharamsala in India. Despite not having been recognized by the Chinese government, persistently urges the Chinese authorities to sit down for dialogue to end the repression against its people.
You have been legitimized by the Tibetan community in exile but not by the Tibetans living in Tibet who have not been able to vote in the process and who are not represented within the political structures., ¿have some information about what they think about your choice?
First of all, I have been chosen by Tibetans in exile around the world. This also includes Tibetans who left Tibet in the years 90 and in the 2000, until very recently. So indirectly, people within Tibet have participated through them in the vote. In second place, I have received many letters, prayers, songs of Tibetans living within Tibet. Songs mentioning my name, elections and democracy. So, There is clearly great acceptance and support from within Tibet for my nomination.. She further , They have told me and shown me many photographs from there, many Tibetans have my photo and, therefore, They know my choice and my position. And what is more important, The previous political leader returned political authority to the Dalai Lama and he passed it on to me, so there is a continuity in the legitimacy of the political authority received.
As political leader of an occupied state, ¿how does it represent, from a country where you are a guest, to six million people?
I run the Central Tibetan Administration which functions like any other government. We have seven departments or ministries: that of Education, Religion and Culture, Interior, Health, International Relations, Security and another of Economy, so we function like any other government. We have a parliament with 44 members that meets twice a year and I have been elected by the Tibetans in the world, so it's like a presidential election. Have 600 full-time employees and 900 with other types of contracts.
¿India does not interfere?
In some cases, as in municipal affairs, It is the Indian government that is in charge of managing water, electricity and also in legal matters that come before the Indian courts. Apart from this, We handle the rest of the matters ourselves..
He believes that the death of 14 Dalai Lama will represent a turning point, ¿will be a challenge to the survival of the defense of the Tibetan cause as it is now proposed?
His Holiness has 79 years, But he is in excellent health and will live for many years.. Apart from that, I am convinced that when that happens there will be many different points of view and strategies that will be taken., but non-violence is our non-negotiable principle. The Middle Way formula is the main policy and is the one supported by the vast majority. So we believe that it should be resolved while the Dalai Lama is still alive.. But ¿different points of view? they are very likely to appear and are appearing, so we will resolve these differences peacefully and democratically.
¿What are the discordant points that you have with the Dalai Lama when it comes to interpreting the Middle Way approach??
It's the same policy, the formula of the Middle Way. The Dalai Lama supports this formula and I continue with the same policy. His Holiness introduced democracy to the Tibetan people. I myself am a product, a result of democracy. There is no difference in perspective between us.
Yeah, but the abandonment of the call for a democratic system is the most significant. You promote integration within the Chinese communist system.
Democracy is what we practice, what we aspire to, It is the result of a choice. We want genuine autonomy within China, with chinese laws. Chinese laws do not allow democracy and all I have tried and try to say is that we want real autonomy for the people of Tibet. Democracy is not part of our request. But if, if we are given the opportunity, we want democracy. Whenever. That's what His Holiness said and that's what I say: genuine autonomy, within China and within its laws.
Autonomy means a certain self-government ¿What type of self-government do you contemplate to be able to talk about that genuine autonomy??
What we aspire to is true autonomy, that allows us to practice our religion, our culture, our language, that we can manage ourselves. The environment has to be protected because it is vital, vital even for all of Asia. Our resources must also be protected. What we are looking for is practical and expert administration.
¿You think the Chinese government will allow them to have that genuine autonomy?
I hope so and I think they should allow it.. It is also for your interest.
¿Because?
Because Hong Kong has a constitutional system, Macau too, Shenzhen, the province of canton, Shanghai, They all enjoy greater autonomy. So in China many autonomies are allowed and they have special treaties with other regions.
Lobsang Sangay at Namgyal Monastery, Dharamsala, praying for his sacrificed compatriots.
Photo © Angel Lopez Soto, member ofGEA PHOTOWORDS
But they have special agreements because they are very important economic zones., the economy rules…
It's true, but we have very powerful reasons. We were not part of China in 1949 when it was founded. Tibet had an autonomous culture and history that were and are completely different. So we seek autonomy so that our culture, religion and language can endure, so it's a completely different question. We are not asking for autonomy based on a market-based economy.
In recent years, 131 Tibetans have immolated themselves as a form of protest calling for democracy and freedom for Tibet, ¿believes that asking for genuine autonomy, to some extent, They are betraying them and all the political prisoners?
Regarding the Administration of Tibet, we do not encourage immolation. Life is a precious fact. We support the aspirations of those who sacrifice themselves, the same as the aspirations of those who protest. We discourage action, but we support the aspiration. I think there is confusion of terms between English and Tibetan. The term for independence in Tibetan is rangzen., for freedom is rangwang and is interpreted as basic individual freedom. We believe that supporting the Middle Way proposal has to be understood as basic individual freedom for Tibetans..
If that genuine autonomy that you speak of is achieved, ¿Do you think they will let you and the Dalai Lama go to Tibet??
Once an agreement has been reached, They should allow us to return because that will be part of the agreement. But whether or not they allow me to go to Tibet is secondary., but allowing it to the Dalai Lama is the wisest thing they can do, since our main concern is to provide those six million Tibetans with true autonomy. Tibetans inside Tibet are suffering, our environment is being destroyed, our culture is being diluted, our language is not being used. We want to change all that, we want to maintain our own tradition within Tibet, that is our primary objective. We want better conditions than there are now in Tibet. Democracy is also an aspiration, but it is not an immediate objective. Our immediate objective is autonomy for Tibetans who live imprisoned in a very harsh reality..
Chinese authorities have labeled him a terrorist, even before being elected Prime Minister, ¿You think they will accept you as an interlocutor?
¡Why not! If they want, they can talk to whoever they want. There are many cases in which governments first branded someone as a terrorist and then sat down to negotiate to find a solution.. For example, Ian Paisley in Northern Ireland,. Now, whether they accept me as an interlocutor or not, that is also secondary. We are very open about it. They have previously spoken with the Dalai Lama, so you should keep talking to him, so we can solve the Tibet issue. This is our position.
¿How do you deal with practicing non-violence and being called a terrorist??
Eggs, you can only laugh at that. Happens 16 years at Harvard Law School, maybe I had some kind of training there, ha ha ha. They usually use that type of labels and well, it's to laugh.
talking about democracy, In the Government in exile there is no opposition or platforms for political parties, ¿Will it be a next step or will they stay with the same current structure?
At this moment we are a democracy without parties, but all individuals can vote and elect whoever they want. We are talking about a small community, around 90.000 personas. Political parties are private initiatives, In the past there was a political party, but they did not last. That is why political parties do not have much support from the people., but no one is stopping it. The people are the ones who have to decide. And this is what Tibet prefers at the moment. If there were political parties, I would not have won the elections because I come from outside the system, I was young, I had never been to Dharamsala, nor was he part of the administration, nor was he a member of parliament. I have not been a minister, nor secretary, not even a bureaucrat. I came from nowhere. That is the beauty of Tibet's democratic system, Everyone can vote for whoever they want and surprises happen.. If there were political parties, the system would control the process and only the system's own candidates could win.
Since Tibetans in Tibet are being silenced, ¿feels that the diaspora has a responsibility to preserve Tibetan identity for the next generations?
¡Of course! He 90 percent of our monasteries were destroyed, They wanted to destroy the Tibetan Buddhist civilization, so we have to preserve, revive and develop it because our civilization is in danger, so we're definitely doing the best we can. We have rebuilt most of the most important monasteries destroyed in Tibet in exile.
¿What is your opinion on the legal cases in Spain for Justice in Tibet and the “Agenda for consideration?”” presented in the Tibetan Parliament in support of International Law and Universal Justice for Tibet citing the cases in Spain as exemplary?
The Court accepted the cases that had been presented by Tibetan individuals among whom was Thubten Wangchen, so for them it was symbolic and of justice. I think a message has been sent to Tibetans around the world, including those living within Tibet, that justice can win even in a symbolic way. We follow the judicial processes very closely. We are surprised that a law that had already been approved and with lawsuits underway, then he will back out. It is necessary to seek justice, respect and recognition for human rights and the people of Tibet who suffered in Chinese prisons. Democracy and judicial independence must continue their course.
¿There will be some kind of formal position on this?
We are not going to take any formal position. As far as the Central Tibetan Administration is concerned, our concern is focused on the Tibetans living in Tibet and the Middle Way is the strategy to find a solution for the Tibetans.
Mercedes Iñiguez Quintela, Graduate in Journalism from the Complutense University and Master in Journalism from the University of Barcelona and Columbia University of New York. He has lived and worked for 15 years abroad and has collaborated for media such as Il Sole 24 Ore, The Guardian, La Vanguardia or the Catalunya Newspaper, inter alia. In recent times she has specialized in gender equality and human rights issues..
