DUSHANBE, June 17, 2015, Asia-Plus — Members of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament have seconded amendments proposed by the government to the country’s law on political parties.
A regular sitting of the first session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the fifth convocation, presided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov, was held on June 17.
Presenting the draft law, the Minister of Justice Rustam Shomurod noted that the amendments were aimed at tightening the government’s control over incomes of political parties.
“The control will be tightened for the purpose of preventing corruption-related cries, money laundering and terrorism financing,” the minister said.
“Under these amendments, political parties should publish information on their incomes in media annually before March 20,” Shomurod said, adding that relevant bodies will check authenticity of the income information.
We will recall that the Majlisi Namoyandagon members on June 10 unanimously voted for amendments proposed by the government to the country’s law on public associations. The amendments provide for tightening control over foreign grants awarded to local NGOs.
Non-governmental organizations in Tajikistan expressed concern about new legislation that restricts their access to foreign grants in November last year. Participants at an international conference in Dushanbe said on November 18 that according to legal amendments recently adopted by a parliament, NGOs in Tajikistan will only be able to receive grants from foreign entities if they have approval from the government. They noted that the change would have substantial effects on the activity of NGOs and would probably force some of them to close.
On November 26, more than 90 NGOs from Tajikistan and other countries have signed the appeal, calling on the government of Tajikistan to drop that draft legislation and to respect the right of NGOs to have unhindered access to funding for their work, including from sources abroad.
