The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan (APT) is expected to hold its extraordinary congress in Dushanbe on August 15
“The election program of the party will be approved at the congress and the congress delegates will nominate the party candidate for president,” APT leader Rustam Latifzoda, who is also member of Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“Initially, we planned to invite 250 delegates to the congress, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced us to reduce their number by half,” Latifzoda said.
Recall, Tajikistan's parliament has set October 11 as the date for the country's next presidential election. The resolution on the election date was approved on August 6 during a joint session of both chamber of parliament.
The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan (APT) is the brainchild of its first chairman Amir Qaraqulov. The first deputy head of the party, Rustam Latifzoda, was elected chairman of the Agrarian Party in March 2014 after Amir Qaraqulov’s death.
The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan was registered with the Ministry of Justice in November 2005. Like the Party of Economic Reforms that was also registered with the Ministry of Justice in November 2005, the Agrarian Party is seen as a “pocket party.” In 2010, the APT won two seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon.
The majority of APT''s members are farmers and peasants, but the upper echelon are agriculture specialists.
The APT has no clear ideological outline, and mainly focuses on the issue of agricultural production. The party advocates for a halt in export of raw materials from Tajikistan, and for the country to switch to the production and export of finished products.
According to some sources, the APT is the second largest political party in Tajikistan after the People’s Democratic Party (PDPT).
The Agrarian Party secured seven in the Majlisi Namoyandagon in this year’s parliamentary elections.
