28th April: Lobsang Dakpa, the lawyer who represented the Cabinet in the high profile Case No 20 of exile Tibetan community, has been appointed as the new Chinese Liaison Officer at the Office of Tibet in Canberra, Australia, by Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and his Cabinet of Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala on April 23 this year.
The order was signed by deputy Sikyong Khorlatsang Sonam Topgyal, the Minister of Home, on April 23, while Sikyong Lobsang Sangay was on a trip to the United States. If his senior Yuthok Karma Gelek is not in service, Sonam Topgyal is second in line to take command in the absence of the Sikyong. When the order was signed, Gelek was on leave.
According to the announcement circulated on social media, and confirmed by officials at the Cabinet Secretariat who requested anonymity, Dakpa will be the Liaison Officer for a period of only four months from 1 May to 27 August.
Dr. Sangay’s second five-year term ends by the end of next month and the appointment has raised some criticism. Dakpa was his lawyer in the infamous Case No 20 case, which he lost against Penpa Tsering in 2019.
Lobsang Dakpa criticized the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission as biassed after losing Case No. 20 to Penpa Tsering. He was then sanctioned by the Justice, who revoked his license to practice law in any Tibetan court and ruled him a contemnor. Strangely there was little to no public outcry of that action taken by the court.
Dakpa, a member of the exile Tibetan parliament, resigned a week ago. Tsering Dolma of Shillong, who is first on the waiting list, will take his place.
Some people argued that the appointment of Lobsang Dakpa as Chinese liaison officer is favoritism, nepotism, and even cronyism. Others said the criticism is done by the partisan of Penpa Tsering and the criticism will bring further destabilization among the Tibetans.
Will Penpa Tsering revoke the appointment of Lobsang Dakpa as Chinese liaison officer? Whatever the case may be only time will tell as people wait anxiously for the new Sikyong Penpa Tsering.
picture courtesy: rfa.org