National Democratic Party of Tibet

National Democratic Party of Tibet
President Gelek Jamyang
Founded 1994 (1994)
Headquarters Dharamsala, India
Membership 5000 worldwide
Ideology Tibetan issue
Democracy
Political position Right-wing
Colours Blue, red, white

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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3]

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

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.[4]

See also

References

  1. National Democratic Party of Tibet
  2. Birth of NDP
  3. Brief History of the National Democratic Party of Tibet, National Democratic Party of Tibet Facebook page, 12 November 2009
  4. Cornelius Lundsgaard, Tibetan Parliament in Exile To See First Ever Opposition Party, The Tibet Post International 18 May 2011

External links

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