Dharamshala: Secretary Sonam Dorjee formally took charge as the new Secretary of Tibetan Parliament in Exile earlier during a brief handover-takeover ceremony held this morning at the Parliamentary Secretariat.

Secretary Sonam Dorjee succeeds the outgoing pro-tem Secretary Tseten Kalsang, Additional Secretary.

The oath of office of the newly appointed Secretary was administered by Parliamentarian Ven. Geshe Atong Rinchen Gyaltsen. Following the ceremony, both the newly appointed and the outgoing Secretaries were greeted by Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang.

The brief ceremony was attended by the members of the Standing Committee, members of the Budget Estimate Committee, and the staff of the Tibetan Parliament.

Brief bio of Sonam Dorjee: 

Sonam Dorjee was born on 11 September 1967 in Lhasa. On 15 June 1993, he began his service at the Central Tibetan Administration as an office assistant at the Department of Religion and Culture. Within the same year on 2 August, he was appointed as an office assistant at the Public Service Commission on probation. On 25 April 1994, he was appointed as undersecretary at the same office. On 1 May 1997, he was appointed as the Deputy Secretary at Public Service Commission. Between 1998-2000, he went to pursue further studies on leave without pay.

On 16 April 2000, he continued as the Deputy Secretary at Public Service Commission. From 1 August 2002, he has served at the Office of Tibet in Taiwan in various capacities as the Deputy Secretary, Joint Secretary, and Additional Secretary.

On 1 November 2021, he was appointed as the Additional Secretary of the Department of Secretary and subsequently was appointed as Secretary of Tibetan Parliament in Exile on 19 January 2022 and assumed the charge effective today.