DUSHANBE, December 16, 2014, Asia-Plus — Tajik authorities’ attitude to the Islamic Revival Party has changed in recent years.
IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri made this remark in his address to the IRP congress that took place in Dushanbe on December 16. According to him, the authorities’ attitude to the party changed after the 2010 parliamentary elections.
He also noted that those “who impede the IRP activities work against the president and the people.”
Kabiri also called on Tajik migrant workers not to boycott the upcoming parliamentary election and to vote for the Islamic Revival Party.
Some local experts say that migrant workers make up a major portion of the opposition’s support base in Tajikistan. Tajik migrant community leaders in Russia say the majority of Tajiks working in Russia tend to support opposition candidates.
By various estimates, 1 million to 1.3 million Tajiks leave the country every harvest season, mostly for Russia, to take jobs as seasonal laborers. The vast majority of them are eligible voters.
Meanwhile, under amendments made to the country’s election legislation, the polling stations will be established outside the country only in territories where the country’s diplomatic representations function.
Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is the only Islamic party registered in CIS Central Asia. The IRP was registered on December 4, 1991. It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999. Its official newspaper is
Najot
(Salvation). According to some source, the IRP now has some 50,000 members. Women reportedly constitute more than 51 percent of the Islamic Revival Party members.
