Sikyong

The Sikyong (Tibetan: སྲིད་སྐྱོང༌, Wylie: srid-skyong, Lhasa dialect: Template:IPA-bo) is the head of the Central Tibetan Administration, a Tibetan exile organisation also known as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. The title was created in 2012.

Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration
སྲིད་སྐྱོང༌
Emblem of Tibet
Incumbent Penpa Tsering
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Kashag Dharamsala, India
Appointer	Direct popular vote
Term length	Five years
Formation	1907 as Kalön Tripa of Tibet 8 August 2011 Sikyong
First holder	Chankhyim Trekhang Thupten Shakya
Website	www.tibet.net

The current Sikyong is Penpa Tsering. The Sikyong is the head of the Kashag, part of the executive branch of the Central Tibetan Administration. This office should not be confused with the "Chairman of the Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region".

The first directly elected Kalön Tripa was Lobsang Tenzin, the Samdhong Rinpoche, who was elected August 20, 2001. Based on the 13-Article Ordinance for the More Effective Governing of Tibet, Kashag should be composed of three temporal officials and one monk official. Each of them held the title of Kalön (Tibetan: བཀའ་བློན་, Wylie: bkaʼ-blon, Lhasa dialect: Template:IPA-bo; Chinese: 噶倫; pinyin: gálún), should seek appointment from the Central Government.

Before 2011, the Kalön Tripa position was subordinate to the 14th Dalai Lama who presided over the government in exile from its founding. In 2011, the Dalai Lama announced that his political authority would be transferred to Sangay.

Kalön Tripa

On September 20, 2012, the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile unanimously voted to change the title of Kalön Tripa to Sikyong in Article 19 of the Charter of the Tibetans in exile and relevant articles. The Dalai Lama had previously referred to the Kalon Tripa as Sikyong, and this usage was cited as the primary justification for the name change. According to Tibetan Review, "Sikyong" translates to "political leader", as distinct from "spiritual leader". Foreign affairs Kalon Dicki Chhoyang claimed that the term "Sikyong" has had a precedent dating back to the 7th Dalai Lama, and that the name change "ensures historical continuity and legitimacy of the traditional leadership from the fifth Dalai Lama". The online Dharma Dictionary translates sikyong (srid skyong) as "secular ruler; regime, regent"[1]. The title sikyong had previously been used by regents who ruled Tibet during the Dalai Lama's minority. It is also used in Tibetan to refer to the governors of the states of the United States.[2]

List of Kalön Tripas and Sikyongs

Tibet
#	Name		Took Office	Left Office	Monarch
1	Chankhyim Trekhang Thupten Shakya		1907	1920	Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso (1879 – 1933)
2	Paljor Dorje Shatra		1907	1923
3	Sholkhang Dhondup Phuntsog		1907	1926
4	Langdun Kunga Wangchuk		1926	1940
5	Lobsang Tashi		1950	1952
	Lukhangwa Tsewang Rabden		1950	1952	Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso (reigned in Tibet 1937 – 1950; 1937 onwards as Dalai Lama)
Central Tibetan Administration — Kalön Tripa
#	Name		Took Office	Left Office	Monarch
1	Jangsa Tsangy		1959	1960	Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso (reigned in exile 1950 – 2011; 1937 onwards as Dalai Lama)
2	Surkhang Wangchen Gelek		1960	1964
3	Gyurme Sonam Topgyal		1965	1970
4	Garang Lobsang Rigzin		1970	1975
5	Kunling Woeser Gyaltsen		1975	1980
6	Wangdue Dorjee		1980	1985
7	Juchen Thupten Namgyal		1985	1990
8	Kalsang Yeshi		1990	1991
9	Gyalo Thondup		1991	1993
10	Tenzin Tethong		1993	1996
11	Sonam Topgyal		1996	2001
12	Lobsang Tenzin		2001	2011
13	Lobsang Sangay		2011	2012
Central Tibetan Administration — Sikyong
#	Name		Took Office	Left Office	Head of State
13	Lobsang Sangay		2012	21 May 2021	Himself
14	Penpa Tsering		21 May 2021	Present	Himself

External links

Speech/transcription

• Penpa Tsering sworn in as the Sikyong of 16th Kashag

• Key note address by Dr. Lobsang Sangay, Kalon Tripa, Tibetan Government in Exile on 06 September 2011 at the VIF Seminar on Tibet

See also

• 2021 Central Tibetan Administration general election

Elections

• Kalon Tripa election in 2011
• Kalön Tripa 2011 election results