2016 Central Tibetan Administration general election
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Elections for the office of Sikyong and the Chitue (Members) of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile were held between October 18, 2015 and March 20, 2016. Tibetans in exile voted for the fourth time their political representative and executive of the Central Tibetan Administration, the self-proclaimed Tibetan government in exile. The election was overseen and organized by the independent CTA agency, Tibetan Election Commission.
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Incumbent Sikyong Lobsang Sangay[1] ran for re-election, winning with 57.3% of the votes in the second round, over his main rival Speaker of the Parliament in Exile, Penpa Tsering.[2][3] Other candidates were Chairman of the Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives in India, Tashi Wangdu, and former Chinese political prisoner and president of Tibetan Ex-Political Prisoner's Association, Lukar Jam.[1]
For the first time this election showed and proliferation of political parties, something unusual in Tibetan politics.[4] The National Democratic Party, a moderate independent leaning party, has traditionally been the only political party in the Tibetan diaspora.[citation needed] The NDPT endorsed both Sangay and Pempa Tsering for their current offices. The pro-Middle Way Approach Tibetan People's Party endorsed Wangdu[5] and also presented its own candidates for Parliament. The radically separatist Tibetan National Congress endorsed Jam.[6]