16th May: The United States greeted Penpa Tsering as the next Sikyong/president of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala (CTA). “Penpa Tsering is congratulated by the United States on his election as next Sikyong in the Central Tibetan Government (CTA). We are happy to cooperate with him and the CTA to help Tibetan global diaspora, “Speaker Ned Price of the US State Department said in a tweet.

This follows the Tibetan Election Commission’s formal declaration of former Speaker Penpa Tsering as the next president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, officially known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). In Tibetan, the president is referred to as the “Sikyong.”

The election commission reported a voter turnout of 63,991 (77.02%) out of a total of 83,080 registered voters on Friday, the highest turnout in the history of Tibetan elections in exile.

According to the Tibetan Election Commission, Penpa received 34,324 votes, while the only other candidate in the race, Kelsang Dorjee Aukatsang, received 28,907 votes in a tightly fought election worldwide on April 11.

After the official results of the 2021 elections were announced this afternoon, Dr. Lobsang Sangay congratulated new Sikyong-elect Penpa Tsering and the 45 new representatives elected to the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.

Sangay, who has served in the position for two terms, said he spoke with Penpa Tsering to congratulate him on his election victory and to give his full cooperation in ensuring a smooth transfer of power.

The election commission also declared the results of members of the 17th Parliament along with the Sikyong election.

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