The new cabinet of the 15th Kashag of Central Tibetan Administration led by the re-elected Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangyal fell into a very unnecessary controversy right from their first day of swearing in. The controversy was in regard to the nomination of second time member of Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Sharling Dhardon for the post of Kalon(Minister), who actually did not meet the eligibility of having completed 35 years of age.
The Sikyong re-elected for the second term for the 15th Kashag of Central Tibetan Administration sworn in for the office in front of His Holiness Dalai Lama nominated his cabinet members for the term during the first session of 16th Tibetan Parliament in Exile. However, the blunder came into light from media primarily after the first day of parliament session when the eligibility issue of one of the cabinet ministers i.e., Sharling Dhardon came into light from the investigations by the journalists.
Sharling Dhardon is a very popular young leader in the exile Tibetan community who has been proactively involved in numerous events and programs for the Tibetan cause and more specifically Tibetan women across the world. She has been serving as a member of Tibetan Parliament in Exile for the last five years while she also had been re-elected for second term of the institution with a record high collection of vote counts for her.
Besides, Dhardon la’s nomination for the ministerial post by Sikyong was tested in the quorum of the parliament where she was approved by the majority of the members by gathering 25 approval vote counts. This was the process carried out in the rise for Sharling Dhardon la to the top level of administration in Central Tibetan Administration overnight.
However, to the setback and more importantly shameful encounter for the new Kashag, the due process followed to the appointment of Dhardon la for the ministerial post came out to be insufficient and non-abided by the law. This issue of appointment of an ineligible person to the post by the Sikyong went viral overnight.
The Sikyong went on to withdraw Dhardon la’s nomination the very next day on the second day of first parliament session explaining the issue having occurred even after following due process all the candidates wherein all the candidates had admitted to meeting all the eligibility criteria.
Later on, Sharling Dhardon la herself in a media interaction explained the incident to have occurred through unfortunate incident of misconception and not any deliberate political stunt. She also went on to admit that she regrets for the incident to have occurred but still remain strong to serve for the society.
The incident has invited criticism as well as condolences. However, I think the incident a natural phenomena of any political person, just as natural as a political campaign. The reason Dhardon is seen giving to a press interview regarded the incident misinterpretation of the eligibility of her concern and that response was also just as obvious as anyone would expect following the incident. This incident is to any extend a political stunt from her to the same extend of her genuine urge to serve the Tibetan cause with the nomination.
The most common criticism about the incident is the question of her responsibility and understanding of the basic eligibilities on her part being a highly educated and a former member of TPiE. Then again we can still question on why she hadn’t consulted the Sikyong or other senior members of CTA if she actually had misinterpreted the issue!
However, the incident would not have happened at the first place if the Sikyong himself had done the home works required by him while choosing his cabinet rather than merely seeking the acceptance of the candidates about them meeting their eligibilities. So this seems as a consequence of sheer negligence and nothing else in the end.
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