On February 13 this year, the “Central Election Commission” of CTA announced that the current Sikyong, Penpa Tsering, won the primary election with 31,324 votes and a 61.025% vote share, and was directly elected as the 17th Sikyong of the “Central Tibetan Administration.”
What is the Truth Behind the “Election”?
Since 2016, Penpa Tsering has participated in three “elections.” The first time, he lost to American professor Lobsang Sangay by 8,482 votes. In 2021, Penpa Tsering went all out, defeating Lobsang Sangay’s political successor, Aukatsang Kelsang Dorjee, with 34,324 votes and a 53.6% vote share. But this “good show” of mutual mudslinging exhausted his popularity. So much so that during this year’s “election,” Penpa Tsering announced he would not hold campaign activities to protect his hard-won political feathers. Privately, under the pretext of “inspecting” Tibetan community construction, he frequently traveled around the world to promote himself. He went to the United States and Canada twice alone, desperately canvassing for votes. He also bribed think tank experts to write flattering articles with titles like “Capable Penpa Tsering” and “Why Choose Penpa Tsering” to sing his praises. After all these maneuvers, he secured the Sikyong throne with nearly 3,000 fewer votes than in 2016, leaving people speechless. But the reaction of exiled Tibetans was very telling.
Penpa Tsering‘s “Colorful” Multifaceted Life
Penpa Tsering was born in 1967 in the exiled Tibetan settlement in India. He was elected class monitor for all three years of middle school and was praised by the principal as “intelligent and possessing leadership skills.” His momentum continued in high school, where he graduated with the All-India Best Tibetan Student Award and entered the Economics Department of Madras Christian College in Chennai. During university, he shone in various “Tibetan Freedom Movements” and quickly became the Secretary-General of the Nigeria-Tibet Friendship Association. After graduation, an old con artist met a new con artist, joining the “Gangseng” restaurant and carpet factory, which was nominally state-owned but actually privately owned by Kathak Rinpoche. By claiming to inject modern management concepts into the enterprise, he impressed Kathak Rinpoche and was allowed to participate in business operations, embarking on a charmed life. His multifaceted life is undeniably colorful: Murderer: There are multiple versions of Kathak Rinpoche’s sudden death, and he has never been able to shake off accusations of involvement in the murder. Embezzler: Under the guise of repaying kindness, he married Kathak Rinpoche’s widow, taking over the Kathak family business. Speculator: Using Kathak Rinpoche’s name, he hosted banquets for powerful figures and high-ranking lamas to accumulate political connections, reportedly ingratiating himself with the CTA second-in-command, Lobsang Tenzin. Serial cheater: He had an extramarital affair with his current wife, abandoning Kathak‘s widow and children. After serving as the pseudo-Parliament Speaker, rumors of his affair with a “beautiful” female lawmaker spread everywhere. Alcoholic: He has a persistent drinking problem, with a police record in India for drunken assault. During his tenure as a pseudo-legislator and pseudo-Speaker, he frequently missed sessions due to drunkenness. Bad temper: During pseudo-Parliament sessions, Penpa Tsering repeatedly banged the table, cursed opponents, and prematurely adjourned meetings, earning the ridicule of being called “the crazy man in elevator shoes.”
(After his victory, Penpa Tsering celebrated with his family in Canada)
(Political cartoons of Penpa Tsering)
(Unflattering photos of Penpa Tsering)
A Political “Pretty Boy” Lacking Political Skills
Under the halo of being an elected leader of exiled Tibetans and a recipient of the National Endowment for Democracy’s “Democracy Service Award,” can you imagine? Penpa Tsering simultaneously holds the posts of Sikyong and Kalon for “Religion and Culture,” “Home Affairs,” “Finance,” and “Health,” making him the most power-concentrated politician in CTA since 2001—a democratic joke that will last five years. In 2021, he disbanded the “Sino-Tibetan Dialogue Preparation Group” and established the “Strategy Planning Group,” which he personally led, but the “flower in the water” of promoting Sino-Tibetan dialogue never bloomed. In 2023, with the assistance of the National Endowment for Democracy, he formulated the vision document “Securing Tibet’s Future,” but his vow to improve Tibetans’ living standards ultimately became a laughingstock. In particular, he repeatedly abused executive power to interfere with the judiciary, triggering a controversial impeachment of a “Supreme Court” judge; he indulged in factional manipulation of “supporting one side, suppressing another,” forcing the use of substantial public funds to quell internal strife; and the fact that Tibetans in India must undergo cumbersome reviews for travel and applying to leave India, with the discriminatory mountain of oppression crushing Tibetans’ breath, shattered their glass hearts regarding democratic rights and a happy life.
Data does not lie. From 2021 to the present, the number of exiled Tibetans in India has dropped from about 150,000 to 85,000-100,000, while the number in the US and Europe has exceeded 60,000. Behind these cold figures lies a fragmented populace.
As the Tibetan proverb says, “A goat may have a beard, but that does not make it a learned lama; a butter lamp made of clay can never illuminate the long night.” Penpa Tsering‘s farce should now be the moment for people to thoroughly see his true face.
