DUSHANBE, December 11, 2014, Asia-Plus — The Socialist Party of Tajikistan (SPT) has resumed publication of its official newspaper
Ittihod
(Unity), which had not been published since November 2013 due to financial problems.
“The eight-page newspaper with circulation of a 2,000 will be published once a month,” SPT leader Abduhalim Ghafforov told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, a new edition of the newspaper was published on December 19. “SPT leader’s appeal to the people of Tajikistan and the party’s election were published in this edition that will be distributed to delegates of the party pre-election congress that will take place in Dushanbe on December 14,” Ghafforov noted.
Ghafforov says his party now has more 21,000 members. He is sure that his party will win seats in the parliament’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) and be able to form a faction in the parliament.
The SPT intends to include 14-15 candidates in the party list and three or four our candidates will run in single-mandate constituencies.
Founded in 1993, the Socialist Party of Tajikistan was registered on August 6, 1996. The party is divided in two factions: the pro-government faction led by Abduhalim Ghafforov and the faction led by Mirhusein Narziyev that is not recognized. The party”s founder, Safarali Kenjayev, was assassinated in Dushanbe in late March 1999. The party has not been able to regroup since Kenjayev”s death.
