DUSHANBE, December 11, 2009, Asia-Plus — On Thursday December 10, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi delivered a statement at the ongoing second Bali Democratic Forum in Indonesia, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
In his statement, Tajik minister, in particular, pointed out an important geographical situation of the Central Asian region. “After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region has turned into a zone of interests of many world powers,” said Zarifi, “Over its brief history of independence, Tajikistan has gone through a series of political, social and economic disorders… It is to be noted, that Tajikistan is the only country within the post-Soviet area, where the Islamic political party is officially registered and has seats in the country’s parliament.”
Zarifi stressed that Tajikistan has taken a number of measures to ensure observance of human rights and freedom of speech in recent years; among these measures is establishment of the Ombudsman institution on human rights, according to him.
“According to the Ministry of Culture, 244 periodicals, including 128 private ones, seven news agencies (six of them are private), and 44 printing houses (38 of them are private) have been registered in Tajikistan to this day,” Zarifi said.
“At present, new challenges and manifestations of terrorism and extremism are facing our peoples. Joint efforts are needed to solve problems caused by these challenges and threats. One of solutions to the problem is development of democracy along with fulfillment of conditions mentioned above,” said Zarifi, “We have first-hand knowledge of extremism, including political and ideological extremism. Besides, there is extremism of external influence. For example, there is no harm in adopting practices of Western democracy. However, it does not mean that we will adopt any model of democracy that will be imposed on us. For Western democracy, the issue of political culture is settled, but one cannot say much for our democracies – our situation differs from the one in advanced democracies. To realize this does not mean denial of democracy; on contrary, it means that it is necessary to work on developing democracy with eastern features. The forum provides platform for formation of this type of democracy for all of us that would take into consideration national accord, tolerance, supremacy of law, freedom of speech and religion, as well as interests of public and private sectors.”
We will recall that this year”s BDF, the second running of this event, which was opened yesterday and will last till December 12, focuses on its theme of Promoting Synergy between Democracy and Development in Asia: Prospects for Regional Cooperation. The forum is dedicated to promote regional international cooperation in the field of democracy and political development among countries in Asia. The BDF is expected to contribute to the pursuit of democratic ideals through dialogue and practical cooperation. The BDF also serves as an institution dedicated to promoting regional and international cooperation in the field of democracy, which will hopefully strengthen democratic institutions at the national level and bridge the gaps in political development in Asia.
This annual high-level forum of foreign ministers and prominent figures is designed to facilitate dialogue and cooperation in national capacity building of both democratic countries and those aspiring to be more democratic. The inaugural BDF last year was hailed as an historic moment as it was the first time representatives from Asian countries had assembled to discuss democracy, a somewhat sensitive issue in the region.
