Firm on his decision to go into “semi-retirement”, the Dalai Lama has endorsed historic constitutional amendments to relinquish his powers as administrative and political head of the Tibetan government-in-exile in favour of a democratically elected leadership.
Earlier, the 75-year-old monk, who had voiced the wish to devolve his powers to elected leaders in March 2011, rejected an unanimous appeal from the three-day Tibetan general meeting earlier this month that called on him to continue as “ceremonial head of state”. Following this, the draft amendments were presented to him on Sunday.
While the Dalai Lama will remain the spiritual head of the Tibetan people, the preamble of the amended Tibetan Charter now describes the Dalai Lama as “Protector and Symbol of Tibet and the Tibetan People”, with significant “duties” that include providing “advice and encouragement with respect to the protection and promotion of the physical, spiritual, ethical and cultural well-being of the Tibetan people; to remain engaged in efforts to reach a satisfactory solution to the question of Tibet and to accomplish the cherished goals of the Tibetan people.”