The Dalai Lama will continue to lead the Tibetan cause in his more important role as its spiritual figurehead, but two weeks ago he announced he wanted to step down as head of Tibet's government-in-exile.

"It was a hard decision to decide to amend the constitution and separate His Holiness from Tibetan politics but he is doing it for the benefit of Tibetans in the long run," Karma Yeshi, a member of parliament, told AFP.

"Keeping that in view, we have taken this decision."

The parliament unanimously passed four resolutions to oversee the handover process, after previously trying to block the Dalai Lama's request.

The incoming prime minister of the parliament, who will be decided by results of an election last Sunday, will take over the Dalai Lama's political responsibilities. Final election results will be known around the end of April.

The parliament, which sits in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, said it would hold an extra session in the coming months to implement the necessary changes to its constitution.

The Dalai Lama, 75, has said that his decision will help the movement to pursue its campaign against Chinese oppression in Tibet after his death. Many Tibetans pleaded with him to change his mind.

"No (I will not reconsider). I gave serious consideration for many years... my decision for the long run is best," he told AFP during an interview last week in Dharamshala.

It is unclear, however, whether any new leader will have the power or global influence to match the charismatic and popular Nobel prize winner, who has travelled the world for decades promoting the Tibetan cause.

Beijing continues to brand him a "splittist" and subjects him to virulent public attacks.

His pacifist "Middle Path" policy of seeking autonomy -- not independence -- for Tibet within China has made no headway, and many young Tibetans are keen to take a more radical stance against Beijing.

The latest major uprising by Tibetans in 2008 was brutally suppressed by Chinese security forces.

The front-runner for the prime minister's job is 43-year-old Harvard scholar and international law expert Lobsang Sangay, who was born in a tea-growing area of northeast India. He has never visited Tibet.

The victor's legitimacy might itself be questioned by Tibetans in Tibet who did not take part in the election. Their loyalty remains with the Dalai Lama, who must convince them to accept the changes.

Samdhong Rinpoche, the current prime minister, has admitted the transfer of power has led to a feeling of "helplessness" in the 43-member parliament, where some members broke down in tears during debates on the issue.

The Tibetan exile movement has been based in India since 1959 when the Dalai Lama fled across the Himalayas after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

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