Berkerley, CA: - San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (SFRTYC) organized the first ever debate on members of Tibetan Parliament in Exile on Feb 20, 2011 with four of the current candidates from North America.
SFRTYC in conjunction with Ngodup Tsering, as the moderator asked the Chitue candidates to discuss the four following topics: Politics, Democracy, Central Tibetan Administration, and their involvement inside the various North American Tibetan Community.
"We organized this debate with the local Tibetan community in mind," said Tashi Namgyal, President of the San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress. "It was imperative that the Bay Area community get a chance to meet their MPs candidates and engage in discussions concerning the future of our Tibetan movement."
Tashi Phuntsok of Calgary, Kunga Thinley of New York, Norbu Tsering of Toronto, and Tashi Namgyal of Seattle were present for the debate. Dickyi Chhoyang of Montreal was unable to attend due to a previous commitments. Member of the community received the chance to generate interest and gain knowledge on what the Chitue general election 2011 means to the Tibetan democracy.
"Watching the Chitue debate yesterday I wanted to vote for all of them, unfortunately we have to short list to two," said fellow community member Tsewang Khangsar.
It is the belief of SFRTYC that such events benefit our community members and the Chitue candidates vice-versa. Members of the public received the opportunity to better understand each candidate's goals for the future. It also granted the Chitue candidates access to what the Tibetan people are expecting from them as their representatives.
In addition, this event was a platform for each candidate to showcase their strengths, achievements, accomplishments, and capabilities to get themselves for the North American Chitue and serve North American Tibetans.
This event was held in Berkeley, CA with over 200 attendees from the Bay Area Tibetan community not including the online community via LiveStream.
The final elections date is March 20, 2011.
