In his statement at a panel discussion in Dharamshala on June 21, Rimpoche admitted that the Kalon Tripa did not have the freedom to operate in the usual manner but had to work within a framework where ... the Dalai Lama’s wishes were absolutely and unquestionably predominant. In response to a question from the audience about the priorities of the Prime Ministers duties, Rimpoche responded, very clearly, that it was important for the kalon tripa “to even anticipate the Dalai Lama’s unstated thoughts and direct his efforts to their realization.”

... the role of the kalon tripa in the exile Tibetan government is not that of a prime minister in a democratic nation as India or the UK (who actually initiates and formulates national policy) but rather that of a “first minister of the crown” in a pre-democratic monarchy or theocracy. The latter statement about anticipating His Holiness’s thoughts echoes the fawning of the grand eunuch in a decaying Oriental court, than the free and candid expression of a democratically elected leader....

Waiting for Mangtso
Jamyang Norbu

A considerable number of new books written in Tibetan ... have been censored or banned from publication [by the Tibetan exile government] because they do not conform to the desired image of traditional Tibetan society. Any serious discussion of history and of possible shortcomings in the society before 1959 is taboo.

Resistence and Reform in Tibet
Heather Stoddard

Attacks (often physical and violent) were directed against Tibetan intellectuals who wrote anything that could be remotely construed as critical of the Dalai Lama, Buddhism or Gyalo Thondup.... His Holiness has, unfortunately, never once condemned these acts of violence and intimidation being carried out in his name.

Waiting for Mangtso
Jamyang Norbu

It is unfortunate but equally true that the Dalai Lama in exile has tended to discourage the emergence of alternative leaders, unless officially approved by him.

Tibet: The Road Ahead
Dawa Norbu