Composition and Election of the members of Local Tibetan Assembly
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According to article 78 of the Tibetan Charter, there shall be a Local Tibetan Assembly in each of the Tibetan settlement.
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As per the article 7 of the Tibetan Charter and article 22 of the Tibetan Electoral Rules & Regulations, the members of the Local Assembly must be elected from and by the permanent residents of the settlement
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If a resident is moved in from other settlement, he or she should have stayed in the present settlement for over 5 years, he must have surrendered his residential benefits of previous settlement or he or she should have moved in to the present settlement by marriage.
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If the above conditions are not applicable, for instance, like any Tibetan camp, scattered community and monastic community, the Regional Election Commissioner shall decide the number of members to be elected depending on the size of community.
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In case there is a dispute amongst the people on which options to follow, there must be a referendum.
Eligibility of members of the Local Tibetan Assembly. A potential candidate must be:
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Citizen of Tibet
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25 years old
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Not be declared as an insane either by a qualified doctor or a court of law
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Not a debtor
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Not a convict
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Not a CTA staff
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Not be entrusted with task, entitled with any rank or position, granted with cash or kind by any other country to harm or work against the interest of Tibetan people.
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Not a defaulter of any law or rules passed by the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile
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Not be someone who has been proved to be working against the Tibetan cause directly or indirectly.
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Not be a staff appointed by the Tibetan Settlement Officer
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Not be someone who has no faith in the Tibetan Charter
Strength and Tenure of the Local Assembly
The strength of the Local Tibetan Assembly shall be no more than 35 and no less than 7 depending on the size of the community.
The tenure of Local Tibetan Assembly is 3 years
Election of the members of the Local Tibetan Assembly
1. The election of local assembly shall be conducted by the Regional Election Commission according to the laid down rules and guidelines on its functions.
2. There shall be preliminary and final round of elections for local assembly. Before the announcement of final election, the Regional Election Commission shall accept any withdrawal of nomination. After the announcement of final election, no candidate can withdraw their nomination.
3. If the number of candidates is same as finalised by the local residents, there is no need of election and candidates shall become members of the Local Assembly. Whereas if the number of candidates is more, members will be selected based on the number of votes they gained. And, if the number is less, there shall be re-election of local assembly.
4. Regional Election Commission shall set a date and notify the elected members to appear for oath taking ceremony. All the elected members including the speaker and deputy speaker of the local assembly shall take the oath from the appointed Local Justice Commissioner as mentioned in the Appendix I (1&2). Thereafter, members shall take oath from the Speaker or Deputy Speaker.
5. When there is vacancy in the local assembly during its term, the first wait list shall take the oath as a new member as mentioned in the Article 92 (3) of the Charter of Tibetans-in-Exile. Vacancies should be filled within 30 days by candidates from the waiting list. There is no need of mid-term election.
Election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Local Assembly
1. After taking oath from the Justice Commissioner, elected members of local assembly shall elect Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among themselves by casting secret ballot in their very first meeting, as per the Article 80 (1) of the Charter of Tibetans-in-exile.
2. Election procedures shall be followed as per Article 56 to 59 like that of Speaker & Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile.
3. In case of Speaker and Deputy Speaker being discharged by two-third majority of local assembly and if there is any vacancy, it has to be filled up according to the laid down rules and regulations.
4. Speaker and Deputy Speaker can take leave from the local assembly and other members, from the Speaker.
Dissolution of Local Assembly and individual member
1. If the Settlement Officer and the Assistant Settlement Officer in consultation with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker decides to dismiss the whole members of local assembly, the general public shall go into poll and take decision accordingly.
2. If an individual member needs to be dismissed, the local assembly will vote to take decision accordingly.
3. If the whole assembly or individual member gets dismissed, new members must be elected within 30 days.