14th Tibetan Parliament Meets For 2010-11 Budget Session

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Tibet.net
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The ninth session of the 14th Tibetan Parliament in exile gets underway. (Photo: The Tibet Post)

Dharamshala: The budget session of the Central Tibetan Administration for the year 2010-11 has begun Monday morning in Dharamsala.

Kalon Tsering Dhondup, Kalon for the Department of Finance, tabled a total budget proposal of 913.80 million rupees. Discussions on amendment of the Charter for the Tibetans in exile, rules and regulations relating to the Election Commission and to increase the number of parliament members from North America and Europe , are on the agenda.

In his opening address, Mr Penpa Tsering, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, expressed "deep concern over the repression and critical situation prevailing inside Tibet since 2008".

The speaker said "the Chinese leadership cannot neglect the issue of Tibet owing to great courage and sincerity shown by the Tibetan people against the oppression inside Tibet " .

"We would always remain deeply grateful to the spirit of great courage, sincerity and common aspiration of our brethren living inside Tibet and to the supporters of Tibetan cause," he added.

Referring to the improper way in which the last session concluded, Speaker Penpa Tsering said the general public should take holistic view of the works initiated by the members of Tibetan Parliament. He said the general public should also take note of the parliament's efforts to bring the issue of Tibet at the international forum, as the issue of Tibet was highlighted during the 5th World Parliamentarians’ Convention in Italy last year.

This opening session was also attended by the members of European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) by Mr. Henri Malosse, Ms. Madi Sharma, Ms. Erika Koller, Ms. Beatrice Ouin, Mr. Sukhdev Sharma, Ms. Anne-Marie Sigmund, head of the delegation and EESC Secretariat, Mr. Andrea Subhan and Mr. Vincent Metten.

The session will run until 20 March.