It's time for a new generation, says Dalai Lama as he drops political role

For more than seven decades Tenzin Gyatso has been the public face ofTibet, first in Lhasa and since 1959 in exile. The fourteenth Dalai Lama is synonymous with the struggle for autonomy for the Tibetan people; rarely have a people and a leader been so closely intertwined.

But the 76-year-old monk has announced he will retire from political life within days, preparing the way for a new generation of Tibetans to take up the leadership of their community.

In a speech posted on the internet and delivered in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamasala, the Dalai Lama said he would ask the Tibetan parliament in exile to make the necessary constitutional changes to relieve him of his "formal authority" as head of the Tibetan community outside China.

He will remain as the spiritual leader but lose his political functions. The assembly, which meets early next week, is expected to approve his request.

Though long anticipated, the move away from the limelight by one of the world's best known political figures signals a dramatic change.

As the news began to sink in, senior leaders of the Tibetan community in exile expressed concern that they were not yet "competent" to emerge from the shadow of their long-time figurehead. Thousands of ordinary Tibetans had, they said, asked the Dalai Lama, whose office traditionally combines spiritual and temporal roles, to reconsider.

Kate Saunders, of the International Campaign for Tibet, said it meant that "at a perilous moment in the history of Tibet" the Dalai Lama was "expressing his faith in the Tibetan people".

Dr Stephen Tsang, an expert at St Antony's College, Oxford, said that the Dalai Lama was trying to change "a several centuries old theocracy into a secular political authority that supports a religious establishment … it's a huge deal".

The decision has forced the Tibetan community in exile as well as those in Tibet to face the prospect of the Dalai Lama's eventual disappearance entirely.

"Without the Dalai Lama, we will not have any legitimacy in the eyes of Tibetans. It is a real question before us and we have to find a solution," the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche, told local reporters.

The Dalai Lama told an audience at his traditional appearance to mark the anniversary of the Tibetan people's 1959 uprising against communist Chinese authorities in Lhasa, and his own escape to India, that as early as the 1960s he had "stressed that Tibetans need a leader elected freely by the Tibetan people". Now, he said: "We have clearly reached the time to put this into effect."

Next week the Tibetan community in exile will vote to elect a new Kalon Tripa, or prime minister, who will take on the Dalai Lama's political functions.

"We do understand what his holiness is planning and he is asking people to become independent of Dalai Lamas. He thinks it could be the appropriate time, therefore he is trying to transfer the entire power to the elected leadership," said Samdhong Rinpoche.

However, he said the government in exile, elected by around 80,000 voters spread across a global diaspora, did "not feel competent to take over and become independent of the Dalai Lama".

In his speech the Dalai Lama – revered by followers as the 14th reincarnation of the Buddha Avalokiteshvara who achieved spiritual enlightenment – acknowledged many supporters had asked him not to take the step.

"I have received repeated and earnest requests, both from within Tibet and outside, to continue to provide political leadership," he said.

"My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility. It is to benefit Tibetans in the long run."

The speech, analysts said, was particularly aimed at the 6 million Tibetans living in China. The Dalai Lama and his senior aides have been concerned about a gulf opening between the views and values of the two communities.

The Dalai Lama also spoke of recent events in the Middle East, describing them as "remarkable non-violent struggles for freedom and democracy".

"I am a firm believer in non-violence and people power and these events have shown once again that determined non-violent action can indeed bring about positive change," he said. "We must all hope that these inspiring changes lead to genuine freedom, happiness and prosperity for the peoples in these countries."

However, with the Dalai Lama ageing, the question of the spiritual succession is also becoming urgent. He is now considering ways of averting any succession crisis, possibly through the unprecedented step of seeking his own reincarnation.

Chinese authorities are likely to exploit any opportunities offered by a transition. Beijing insists it has the right to approve the reincarnations of the senior Tibetan monks and has said the next Dalai Lama will be born in China. But the Dalai Lama has suggested that since he is likely to die in exile, he will also be reincarnated there.

Posted in: Dalai Lama