Sikyong

The Sikyong (Tibetan: སྲིད་སྐྱོང༌, Wylie: srid-skyong, Lhasa dialect: [ˈsícóŋ]) is the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, a Tibetan exile organisation in India also known as the Tibetan government-in-exile based on the 2011 Charter of Tibetans-in-exile. The title was created in 2012 after the 14th Dalai Lama decided not to assume any political and administrative authority as the head of the Tibetan Administration for Tibetans-in-exile. The current Sikyong is Penpa Tsering. The Sikyong is the political leader of the Kashag, part of the executive branch of the Central Tibetan Administration. This office should not be confused with the "Chairman of the People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region" (西藏自治区人民政府主席) appointed by the Communist government in Beijing. The first directly elected Kalön Tripa was Lobsang Tenzin, the Samdhong Rinpoche, who was elected August 20, 2001. 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 the Sikyong.