DUSHANBE, March 4, 2015, Asia-Plus — In a statement released on March 4, the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) Political Council says the parliamentary elections “were not free and not transparent.”
The statement says the IRP does not recognize the election results published by the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER).
The statement also notes that Tajikistan’s central electoral commission and courts do not have political will and are not independent, and therefore, it makes no sense to mount an official challenge.
The statement stresses that falsification of the election results and interference of the executive authorities in the voting process are a serious blow to stability in society that will cause some people to join violent extremist organizations.
The IRP Political Council calls on the country’s authorities to stop persecution of representatives of opposition parties and movements who participated in the election race.
We will recall that the March 1 parliamentary election left only the ruling People”s Democratic Party along with pro-government groups — the Agrarian Party (APT), the Party of Economic Reforms (PER), and the Socialist Party (SPT) — with seats in parliament. The SPT gained entrance to the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower house of parliament) for the first time.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s international observer mission said on March 2 that the parliamentary polls took place in a “restricted political space” and failed to provide a level playing field for candidates.
