Members of the movement to free Tibet from China conducted elections on Sunday, March 20, that will greatly affect the movement’s future.

The most notable change in power within the Tibetan government is that the 14th Dalai Lama, the current incarnation of the traditional Tibetan spiritual and political authority, will surrender more political power to a Prime Minister, known as Kalon Tripa.

83,399 Tibetans living around the world were eligible to vote in the elections, although those in Nepal were blocked from voting by that country’s government. The Tibetan government has been based in Dharamsala, India, since 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled the country after a failed revolt against Chinese rule. China invaded Tibet in 1950 and has held control of the region ever since.

Exiled Tibetans voted at several polling stations around the world for members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile and amongst three candidates for Kalon Tripa. The results are scheduled to be announced on April 27.

The candidates, Lobsang Sanghay, Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, and Tashi Wangdi have no connection to the Tibetan religious community, a first for the country’s leader.

The current Kalon Tripa, Samdong Ripoche, is ineligible to run because he has served the maximum of two terms.

Sanghay, a research fellow at Harvard Law School who has never been able to enter Tibet due to Chinese regulations, is widely seen as the favorite to win the elections based on his overwhelming victory in a preliminary election held last year.

In an article by The Boston Globe, Sanghay said that if he won, his priorities would be, “to make efforts to restore freedom in Tibet; to alleviate the suffering of the Tibetan people in Tibet; to end political repression and economic marginalization, cultural assimilation, and the environmental destruction taking place in Tibet.’’

The International Association of Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT, an international organization convened to oversee the elections, praised the efficiency with which the elections were handled, while also acknowledging the situation in Nepal.

INPaT chairman Matteo Mecacci said of the elections, “”I think these were very open elections, competitive elections. You know that for the Kalon Tripa position, the chief of the administration, there is still an open competition among three countries, very open, which is something they never had before.”

The desire to implement democratic institutions in Tibet was one reason that the Dalai Lama decided to cede political authority to the Kalon Tripa, a decision that has not been welcomed by everyone within the Tibetan community.

Members of the Tibetan community have asked the Dalai Lama to stay on because they are concerned that without him, the movement could lose international support.

However, the Dalai Lama has countered these claims by saying, “My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility. It is to benefit Tibetans in the long run. It is not because I feel disheartened.”

He has called his rule, “as outdated as any monarchy,” and encouraged Tibetans to adopt Democratic institutions.

The Dalai Lama has also stated that the long-term future of the movement was a factor in the decision, saying, “If we have to remain in exile for several more decades, a time will inevitably come when I will no longer be able to provide leadership. Therefore, it is necessary that we establish a sound system of governance while I remain able and healthy, in order that the exile Tibetan administration can become self-reliant rather than being dependent on the Dalai Lama.”

Such concerns are particularly poignant because of fears that China could try to control the Dalai’s successor. A similar example happened in 1995, when China attempted to name the Panchen Lama (the second-highest ranking official in Tibetan Buddhism). The move was not accepted by Tibetan Buddhists, who appointed their own Panchen Lama. This Panchen Lama is now held in Chinese custody.

The government of China referred to the elections as the Dalai Lama’s trick to “deceive the international community.”

In an article for the online version of the Chinese Communist Party’s newspaper The People’s Daily, columnist and editor Li Hongwei said, “In all likelihood, a new-generation leadership to rule the “Tibetan government in-exile” would inject the more radical and extreme theory in “Tibetan Independence”, and would also take desperate steps to obtain the highly coveted goal. And they will never cease to sow the seed of ethnic discords and fuel flames among the Tibetan people within China.”

Such a position, however, runs counter to that expressed by the Dalai Lama, Kalon Tripa candidates, and other Tibetan authorities, who have called for the Tibetan independence movement to be conducted through non-violent means.