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Parliamentary polls kick off in Tajikistan

Sunday, 01 March 2015 2:40 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 01 March 2015 2:40 PM ]

A Tajik national casts his ballot in the parliamentary elections at a polling station in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, March 1, 2015.

People have started going to the polling stations in Tajikistan in the country’s parliamentary elections amid speculations that the ruling party of President Emomali Rahmon will win the polls.

The voting began on Sunday, the head of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER), Abdumannon Dodozoda, said, adding that a high voter turnout is expected.

Polls will remain open until 8 pm local time (1500 GMT) on Sunday, and results are expected to be announced on Monday.

According to the CCER, 30 percent of the 4.3 million registered voters cast their votes within only the first three hours of the elections.

There are speculations that the party of President Emomali Rahmon (pictured below) will keep dominating the Central Asian country.

Meanwhile, the opposition has accused the government of cracking down on dissent.

The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) had earlier expressed concern about the government ratcheting up pressure on the party’s 42,000 members in the run-up to the elections.

On February 22, Mukhiddin Kabiri (pictured below), the IRPT chairman, said “Elections are problematic in Tajikistan but we did not expect difficulties to this extent… I would say our party is currently experiencing total pressure, especially in the country’s provinces.”

President Rahmon, who cast his ballot in the capital, Dushanbe, on Sunday without speaking to reporters, has said that he has no intention of interfering in the parliamentary vote.

Rahomn, who heads the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan, has been in power since 1992. The ruling party has 55 members in the 63-seat Assembly of Representatives, which is the lower chamber of the Tajik parliament.

The Tajik president secured a seven-year term with over 80 percent of the votes in the presidential election in late 2013. However, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the vote lacked “pluralism and genuine choice.”

MIS/HJL/SS

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