DUSHANBE, December 24, 2012, Asia-Plus — An extraordinary congress of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) that took place in Dushanbe on December 23 elected a new leader of the party.
Rajab Mirzo, the head of DPT’s organization for Dushanbe, says 86 delegates from all regions of the country attended the congress and Saidjaffar Ismonov, the leader of one of the DPT wings, was elected as chairman of the party.
According to him, the congress also considered issues related to strategy of the party and intensification of work of the party’s primary organizations.
Officially recognized head of the DPT, Masoud Sobirov, did not attend the congress.
We will recall that Democrats in Sughd province and Gorno Badakhshan as well as some primary organizations of the party in other regions of the country do not recognize Masoud Sobirov as the party leader and consider Mahmadruzi Iskandarov their leader. They demanded convocation of the extraordinary congress of the party.
In this connection, the organizing committee for convocation of the extraordinary congress of the party was established. Led by Mamlakat Jaychiyeva, the organizing committee headed the party until the extraordinary congress.
The Democratic Party of Tajikistan can trace its origins back to the last days of the Soviet Union. Registered on June 21, 1991 and banned by the Supreme Court on June 21, 1993, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan was reregistered on December 3, 1999.
At the end of 1990s, two factions laid claim to the Democratic Party of Tajikistan: the Almaty platform led by Mahmadruzi Iskandarov and the Tehran platform run by Azam Afzali. The Tehran platform later transformed itself into the Taraqqiyot (Progress) Party.
On October 5, 2005, the Supreme Court sentenced DPT leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov to 23 years in prison. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of terrorism, the embezzlement of state funds, and the illegal storage of weapons, though his supporters say he was jailed for political motives.
The party split into two factions again and the Ministry of Justice recognized Masoud Sobirov as the legitimate leader of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan in October 2006.
