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| China-Japan-Koreas | ||
| Dalai Lama says heir should be elected | ||
| 2007-11-28 | ||
| In a major break with tradition, the Dalai Lama has said his successor might be chosen before his death with the approval of the Tibetan people through a referendum. After years of speculation over how the Tibetan leadership would deal with the prospect of his death in exile, the Dalai said he was considering holding a vote over the method of choosing his successor. According to standard ritual, lamas are selected from children born after their predecessors' death seen as embodiments of their soul. But speaking in India, where he has lived in exile since fleeing Chinese-occupied Tibet in 1959, the Dalai said the people might be asked to choose whether he should instead pick a replacement himself before he died. Other options, such as a conclave similar to that used to elect the Pope, were also possible. That would enable the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile to ensure that the succession would be taken out of the hands of Beijing, who recently announced that all reincarnations had to be approved by the Communist authorities. "If people feel that the institution of the Dalai Lama is still necessary, it will continue," he said. "When my physical condition becomes weak, and there are serious preparations for death, then this event should happen." He added: "If my death comes when we are still in a refugee status then logically my reincarnation will come outside Tibet."
The Chinese authorities took the six-year-old boy chosen by the Dalai as the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second-ranking figure, into house arrest in 1995 and appointed their own, a continuing source of division. The Dalai said that he fully expected the authorities to do the same when he died, but they are already nervous of repeated signs of unrest, including recent anti-Chinese riots in a town in the north of the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region this month. The death of the Dalai before he has been allowed to return home could easily trigger more. The Dalai said there was a precedent to his successor being chosen while he was still alive, but added that discussions so far had not come to a serious conclusion. A referendum would be held in all Tibetan-inhabited areas, though he did not elaborate how this would be possible under Chinese rule. He also said that his death would not be a disaster to his people. "If I die today there will be some setback to the Tibetan struggle," he said "But the Tibetan spirit will not go away with my death." | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 all reincarnations had to be approved by the Communist authorities. Laughing my ass off. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-11-28 13:49 |