Dalai-Lama the 14th today announced his decision to officially resign from his political post as the head of Tibetan government in exile. He explained that he is making this decision because "in long-term perspective, it will be good for the Tibetans". "Since the 1960's, I have always emphasized the necessity of finding a leader, freely chosen by the people of Tibet, to whom I could transfer the political authority, - The Dalai-Lama said in an announcement at Dharamsala (Indian state Himal-Pradesh). - The time has come to bring this into practice."
The Dalai-Lama has been living in voluntary exile in Dharamsala since 1959, after he left Tibet when the People's Liberation Army of China invaded this region. He is in favor of granting wide autonomy to Tibet, and of continued negotiations to this end with the government of PRC.
The Dalai-Lama's decision to finally resign from his role of a political leader has to be approved by the Tibetan parliament in exile, which, just like the Tibetan government, works in northern India. A conference dedicated to this matter should take place on March 14. At the same time, the Dalai-Lama remains as the spiritual leader of Tibetans, as well as of the Buddhists of Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia. However, lately the Dalai-Lama has repeatedly raised the matter about his possible successor in this spiritual capacity as well. Not without his usual sense of humor, last fall he announced that it could very well be a person of female gender. "It could, of course happen that the successor will be a boy, but I would give greater preference to a girl in the position of the spiritual leader of Buddhists", he said, as ITAR-TASS informs us.