While sending my greetings to all Tibetans in and outside Tibet, there are a few important issues I would like to present to you.

Since I was very young, I realized that the transformation of our governance into a democratic system was of utmost importance for Tibet's immediate and long-term interest. Therefore, after taking responsibility as the spiritual and political leader of Tibet, I worked hard to establish such a democratic set-up in Tibet. Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve it under the harsh repression of the People's Republic of China. However, immediately after coming into exile, judicious reforms were introduced in the structure of our governance and a newly-elected parliament was constituted. Despite being in exile, the process of the democratization of the Tibetan community has made good headway. Today, the Tibetan community in exile has completely transformed into a modern democracy in the true sense of the word, having an administration with its own charter and a leadership elected by popular vote. We can be proud at this moment when the Tibetan people themselves are ready and able to take responsibility for Tibet.

The reason I have persisted in encouraging the establishment of a democratic system is based entirely on the need to secure a solid and sustainable future system of governance for Tibet. This is not because I was reluctant or wanted to shirk my responsibility. It is extremely important that we take stock of history and our past experience, as well as learn from the present world situation in order to keep up our struggle. All Tibetans should uphold and strengthen the institution of the Central Tibetan Administration, by means of which we will be able to preserve the Tibetan cultural heritage in exile until the issue of Tibet is resolved.

Since coming into exile, we have exercised the essential functions of a democratic system by inviting our people to express their opinions about important political decisions on the future of Tibet. The current, mutually beneficial Middle-Way Approach was formulated in the early 1970s as a result of much deliberation and discussion with leaders who represented the Tibetan people such as the Speaker of the House. Moreover, I have specifically stated in the Strasbourg Proposal that the Tibetan people will make the final decision.

After the break in contacts with the PRC in 1993, we conducted an opinion poll of the Tibetans in exile and collected suggestions from Tibet wherever possible on the proposed referendum, by which the Tibetan people were to determine the future course of our freedom struggle to their full satisfaction. Based on the outcome of this poll and suggestions from Tibet, our parliament in exile, passed a resolution empowering me to continue to use my discretion on the matter without seeking recourse to a referendum. Therefore, until now we have followed the Middle-Way Approach and eight rounds of talks have taken place since contact with the PRC was restored in 2002. Despite this approach receiving widespread appreciation from the international community, as well as the support of many Chinese intellectuals, there have been no positive signs or changes in Tibet. Indeed, PRC policies towards Tibet and the Tibetans have remained unchanged.

After the sixth round of talks in 2007 with officials of the PRC, there were no plans to hold further talks in the immediate future. But, because of the urgency of the situation in Tibet after the events of March this year, we held informal discussions in the beginning of May, followed by the seventh and eighth rounds of talks in July and at the beginning of November, so as not to leave any stone unturned. Nevertheless, no real progress was made.
                   
In March this year, Tibetans from the whole of Tibet known as Cholka-Sum (U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo), regardless of whether they were young or old, male or female, monastic or lay-people, believers or non-believers, including students, risked their lives by courageously expressing their long-felt dissatisfaction with PRC policies in a peaceful and lawful way. At that time I was hopeful that the PRC government would find a solution based on the reality on the ground. However, on the contrary, the Chinese government has completely ignored and rejected Tibetan feelings and aspirations by brutally cracking down on them, using the accusation that they were 'splittists' and 'reactionaries' as an excuse. During those testing times, out of profound concern and a deep sense of responsibility, I exercised whatever influence I have with the international community and with China, including writing personally to President Hu Jintao. But my efforts hardly made any difference.

Since everyone was preoccupied with the issue of the Beijing Olympics, it did not seem appropriate to consult the general public at that time. Now, since the time is more appropriate, in accordance with clause 59 of the Charter for Tibetans-in-exile I have on 11th September, requested our elected leadership to convene a Special Meeting soon. It is my hope that participants will be able to gather the opinions of their respective communities and be able to present them on this occasion.

Taking into account the inspiring courage being shown by people all over Tibet this year, the current world situation, and the present intransigent stance of the government of the PRC, all the participants, as Tibetan citizens should discuss in a spirit of equality, cooperation and collective responsibility the best possible future course of action to advance the Tibetan cause. This meeting should take place in an atmosphere of openness, putting aside partisan debate. Rather, it should focus on the aspirations and views of the Tibetan people. I appeal to everyone concerned to work together to contribute as best as they can.

This Special Meeting is being convened with the express purpose of providing a forum to understand the real opinions and views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions. It must be clear to all that this special meeting does not have any agenda for reaching a particular predetermined outcome. 


The Dalai Lama   

                       
14 November 2008



(Translated from Tibetan)




Statement from the Tibetan Kashag, 17 November

Honorable Speaker and Deputy Speaker,

The Kashag extends warm greetings to all the participants who have come to this Special Meeting, as well as members of the press.

At the outset, the Kashag on behalf of all the Tibetans would like to pay our sincere reverence to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and express our gratitude for convening this first Special Meeting, after giving due consideration to number of things. The Kashag would also like to thank all the participants, who represent various sections of exile Tibetans, for making it convenient to attend this meeting. And more importantly, many Tibetans from Tibet have sent in their opinions for this Special Meeting for which the Kashag expresses its heartfelt gratitude.

The Kashag appreciates the opportunity for making this statement.

We need not further explain the seriousness of the situations in Tibet and the unspeakable sufferings of Tibetans in Tibet since March this year. Everyone is aware of the various challenges and obstacles before the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in its effort to find solution to the issue of Tibet. Under such critical stage, it is inevitable that we must contribute and come together to closely discuss about the views of the Tibetan masses on what future action needs to be taken on Tibet. Therefore to convene this meeting today is very timely and is the need of the hour. We believe this meeting will be considered an important event in our history. For such important event as this meeting, there have been many speculations and misconceptions.  I will not try to clarify all of them. But I will clarify a few, which were told to me in person or through letters.

Some people say this Special Meeting is a political strategy and tactic to pressure the PRC before the eighth round of talks to extract some results. Some says this Meeting is convened so that the Central Tibetan Administration to shirk the responsibility of the failed talks or pass the blame to others. It is also said that this meeting is called because the Central Tibetan Administration had decided to change its current policy, or at least, one mentions that the CTA hopes that this meeting could bring about a change in the CTA's current stance. And some says the CTA had convened this meeting to seek popular backing from Tibetan people for its current policy, and because of this reason, many of the participants at the meeting are CTA officials or those who are under the CTA's influence. Those who made such speculations are not aware of real facts. I think they are oblivious to the decision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in convening this Special Meeting in accordance with democratic norms. Under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the CTA has always followed the principle of truth and has always remained transparent in all our dealings, without indulging in any double standards. The CTA has never adopted the policy of pressurizing others, nor will we do so in the future. We have briefed the media, the Parliament-in-Exile and the Tibetan public on the unsatisfactory outcome of the talks whenever necessary. We have been very transparent about the process and status of the talks and take full responsibility for the outcome, or lack thereof. Therefore, we don't have to look for somebody else to blame. Regarding the question of changing the basic policy, this will be decided by the Tibetan people based on their collective aspiration. It is not the case of the CTA coming to decision, beforehand, and then later going to the people for consultation. This has not happened in the past and the CTA will never think of doing something like this in the future.  A change in policy need not come from this meeting. The Parliament-in-Exile, through a unanimous resolution adopted on 18 September 1997, offered His Holiness the Dalai Lama full mandate to decide on the policy and direction of the Tibetan struggle, from time to time, keeping the global trend and other factors into consideration. Therefore if a change in basic policy is considered necessary, there is a way that is democratic and which has the mandate of Tibetan people. Likewise, the present policy has public mandate and therefore there is no reason to seek further public support for it. The participants for this meeting are constituted through a resolution of the parliament and the Administration has no comments on this. Customarily in the past annual meetings, the CTA officials were included. Other than that, there is no plan to overwhelm this conference with the position of the CTA. In fact, the Kashag has clearly instructed the CTA officials attending this meeting to freely raise their concerns and express their views, irrespective of the CTA's standpoint and policy. As such this meeting is an opportunity for the Kalons to listen rather than voice its thoughts. The Kalons requested that they be excused from attending the group discussions. However, permission was not granted and the Kalons will join the group discussions but will not speak out the Kashag's view and its policies at the group discussions. Based on these reasons, we would like to say that all the speculations mentioned above are not true.

Also few good-intentioned people have pointed out that today, the beginning of this Special Meeting, is an ominous day according to Tibetan calendar and that we should have been little more careful about finding the suitability of the day by consulting our own system of astrology. There are, however, remedies to reduce or reverse any adverse effects, especially when, on certain occasions, you need to perform important tasks within stipulated timeframe, with no time to find out whether a particular day is auspicious or not. Today is not particularly a bad and ominous day, except that you should avoid work related to water and to keep livestock indoor. Other than that, today is pretty good day with no obstacles as such. Nonetheless, the Tibetan Parliament has taken all corrective measures.
The reasons why this Special Meeting was called are as follows. Since March this year, in most parts of Tibet, Tibetans, irrespective of whether they were young or old, monks, nuns or lay people, male or female, spontaneously and courageously came together to demonstrate, with full knowledge of imminent dangers to their lives, expressing their anguish and dissatisfaction at the oppressive and brutal ultra-leftist policies of the PRC and to protest the total lack of freedom of speech and thought. This resentment has been building up for the last sixty years. However the peaceful and lawful manner in which the Tibetans demonstrated their long pent-up sentiments were crushed with brute force and merciless killings, torture, detentions and injury. Under such dire circumstances, Tibetans in Tibet pinned all their hopes on fellow Tibetans in the free world. It is needless for us to mention that, at such times, we cannot be insensitive to their cries. We must show solidarity with our brethrens and we must do whatever in our means to improve their situation. In this regard, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has made tremendous efforts in this direction, including appealing to important world leaders and the international community, and specifically appealing to Tibetans, Chinese, and Chinese Buddhists. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has also written directly to President Hu Jintao and has send his envoys for an informal meeting in Shenzhen on 4 May and for the seventh round of talks in Beijing in July. However it is difficult to conclude if such tremendous efforts by His Holiness have brought any positive results. But the PRC's repression and hardline policies towards Tibet and Tibetans have worsened and there is no sign of positive change. During the eighth round of talks in Beijing on 4th and 5th of this month, our act of submitting a memorandum about implementation of national regional autonomy provisions for all the Tibetans to enjoy autonomous status in accordance with law for national regional autonomy as enshrined in the constitution of People's Republic of China was considered a 'splittist' act. We were accused of seeking independence in disguise. There was no positive response. Now the time has come for all the Tibetans to discuss their concerns and share opinions.

Generally, the members of parliament represent the masses and it is well known practice that any policy that has been passed in the parliament by resolution is assumed to have the mandate of the people, unless it is revised or changed by the parliament itself. This is most appropriate for a free country but this is not so for the exile Tibetan community. In a democratic country with a multi-party political system, the party with majority forms the government and it will use all its influence to safeguard the party's interests. But we are a party-less democratic system in which the members of Parliament are elected from different religious schools and traditions and from Tibet's traditional region rather than being elected from a specified constituency and representing people of that constituency. As a result, our Parliament members have limited contacts with the general public on a daily basis. For this reason, we have in our charter, unlike other democratic countries, a provision to call Special Meetings at times of emergency and for matters of great importance on which the general public opinion is needed.

The process of directly voting for the post of Kalon Tripa by Tibetan exiles is not so old. While voting for the Kalon Tripa, one should vote for his political stand and policy rather than voting for the candidate as a person. I have been told that it is a sign of failure on the part of an elected leader if he, enjoying the mandate of the people, consults the general public from time to time, instead of leading and giving political guidance to the people during his tenure. As mentioned above, our situation is not only urgent and pressing which cannot be compared with situation of other free countries, but also, under occupied situation, many day-to-day changes might possibly take place. So consulting the general public for their support on matter of special importance is exercising key democratic feature which should be followed not only by us but other elected leadership as well. For these reasons, this Special Meeting is not out of place with our charter and it conforms to the democratic process. 
At this Meeting, by taking into account the urgent situation in Tibet, the current world situation and the behavior of the PRC's leadership, we should able to understand the views and aspiration of the common Tibetans on what would be the best course of future actions beneficial to the Tibetan cause. The Kashag appeals to all the participants to use their intelligence and come together to contribute to an open and frank discussion. This meeting should not turn into a debate between political organizations and rigid political ideologies. And this must be stressed that the CTA has no hidden agenda and plan behind this Meeting. The Kashag will not make a statement about the works and programmes of the CTA thus far.  The Kashag will neither say a single word about what is right or wrong on the agendas of this meeting. We do this because it may be viewed as influencing the views of participants. The Kashag has full faith in the wisdom of the public.   

The statistic of opinions gathered from Tibetans in Tibet, concerning this Special Meeting, has been submitted to the Honorable Speakers.

The main objectives of this Special Meetings are;
1. To have open and frank discussion on the issue of Tibet by the general Tibetan masses at this critical point in time. 
2. To invite views and comments on the CTA's policies and strategies that are being expressed in media and on forums, and specially to provide official platform to receive the critical views and opinions regarding the CTA's policies. 
3. Whatever stand may be decided for the future of Tibet, it should have clear mandate of the people. The united efforts of Tibetans should be visible on the international stage.

Lastly, our prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and may His wishes be fulfilled. May the truth prevail on the issue of Tibet.

The Kashag 
17 November 2008