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(Reuters)DHARAMSALA, India - The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, gave a definite "no" to a majority of Tibetan parliamentarians' request that he stay on to lead the government-in-exile. It was time he terminated an outdated system that had been there for four centuries, he told reporters at Dharamsala.
On March 10, he announced his intention to relinquish his political role to a popularly elected leader. "My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility. It is to benefit Tibetans in the long run," he said at the time. The cabinet of his government-in-exile has agreed to honor his decision. But the parliament-in-exile, which convened on March 14, hoped he would continue to lead.
During an interview with foreign media, the 75-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate said: "If (the parliamentarians) come tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, then I will tell them: No, my decision as far as an institution...
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Dalai Lama vows to devolve power, leadership outdated
DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama said on Thursday that his leadership was as outdated as a monarchy and insisted he would relinquish a four-century old tradition of power despite opposition from within the Tibetan government-in-exile.
The Dalai Lama last week announced he would step down as Tibet's political leader to empower an elected prime minister, a move seen transforming the government-in-exile into a more assertive body in the face of Chinese pressure. But many exiled Tibetan leaders have opposed his devolving of power, fearful the movement could wane without the influence of a global celebrity adored by Hollywood stars and the 6 million Tibetans who worship him as a reincarnated leader.
"The rule by spiritual leaders, the rule by kings or rajas is now outdated," Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama who has been calling for democratic reforms since the 1960s, told a news conference in his first public statement since his decision. "I do not want to be like Mubarak." More>>
