Yesterday, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed a decree convening the first session of the new composition of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (lower house of parliament) on March 17. The day before, the results of the elections were announced in the republic. The Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT) does not agree with them; its leader, Rakhmatillo Zoyirov, called them not a legal, but a politically fabricated decision.
As predicted, most of the seats in parliament were taken by the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT), led by Emomali Rahmon. According to the Central Election Commission, the PDPT won 50.4% of the vote and received 12 deputy mandates on party lists and 35 seats in single-mandate constituencies. Total 47 out of 63 places.
In addition to the PDPT, four more parties, the Party of Economic Reforms and the Agrarian Party, went to the lower house of parliament - they won just over 16% of the vote and received four deputy seats. Also, the Socialist and Democratic Parties of Tajikistan received one mandate. The Communists of Tajikistan with three percent remained overboard, the SDPT gained only half a percent of the vote. Although according to the data of the Social Democrats, they received the support of 30% of voters and counted on at least two or three deputy mandates. The turnout in the elections was 86%. Thus, the party of the president will retain the majority, which means that no changes in the political course should be expected.
Tajik expert Parviz Mullodzhanov shared his impressions of the recent election: “The most faithful, the Social Democrats, sincerely believed that they would go to parliament. The most productive, the Agrarian Party, had avoided the election campaign, but they had the best harvest. The most economical "The Party of Economic Reforms is a minimum of efforts, all the same in parliament. The most assiduous - the ruling People’s Democratic Party - I don’t know, maybe because the most democratic? The most inconspicuous - the communists, the most contented They are democrats, the most silent ones are socialists. Together: incomprehensible, that is, what they want, it’s clear, but what benefit to all of us (citizens of Tajikistan) is not understandable. ! ", Mullodzhanov noted.
Shokirdzhon Khakimov, a doctor of law, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the distribution of seats in parliament does not depend on the results of the vote, but on the decision of the ruling elite. Khakimov participated in the elections as a candidate from the SDPT, therefore he knows the situation firsthand. He explained that in a number of regions, in particular in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, the Karategin Valley, the districts of the Kulyab zone of the Khatlon Region, as well as Tursunzade, Shakhrinau, Gissar and Rudaki, independent experts were appointed who secretly conducted parallel monitoring. If they had done this openly, then the authorities would have stopped their activities. In addition, the SDPT conducted an active election campaign in the regions of Tajikistan. Voters at meetings with party representatives expressed their support and willingness to vote for the SDPT.
“Our assessment is based on these data. In addition, a source in the Central Election Commission informed party leader Rakhmatillo Zoyirov that according to the results of the vote count, the party is in second place with 30% of the vote. This meant that we would get two or three deputy mandates. But at the final press conference, the head of the CEC announced completely different figures, supposedly only 13 thousand voters, or 0.5%, voted for the SDPT, these data have no basis, since the party consists of twice as many citizens. their family members who are so but they took part in the vote, it turns out 30%. 0.5% do not stand up to criticism. We learned that after all the ballots were counted, the Central Election Commission changed the results of voting three times, apparently, as instructed above. The SCO and the CIS did not find any violations, "Khakimov said. Although, according to him, there were many violations.
The SDPT will not appeal against the results of the vote. "Under the law, this is useless, since there are no independent courts in Tajikistan, and it is dangerous to protest on the square, since destructive forces seeking to destabilize the situation can take advantage of this action," said the Tajik politician.
According to him, the fact that the opposition was not allowed into the parliament is only regrettable. Two opposition deputies in parliament could give the population hope for a change. But the authorities chose to use the experience of Turkmenistan and Belarus, abandoning the best practices of Uzbekistan.
