DUSHANBE, July 4, Asia-Plus — A destiny of a “Vatan” (Homeland) faction formed within Tajikistan’s Democratic Party (DPT) will be settled in early August, Rahmatullo Valiyev, the party’s deputy chairman, said.
According to him, group of members of the DPT wanting to form this faction should submit all necessary documents and program platform for consideration to the party’s commission before August 1.
“10 percent of a total members of the party should second the platform, otherwise the faction will not be registered,” Mr. Valiyev said, noting that the DPT is the only party in Tajikistan, whose charter allows formation of factions within the party. At the same time, Mr. Valiyev stressed, “The DPT and the “Vatan” faction should share common goals and policy.”
“After thorough consideration of the submitted documents, the commission will make a final decision on the registration of the “Vatan” faction before August 10,” Rahmatullo Valiyev said.
According to Mr. Valiyev, Hojimuhammad Umarov, the DPT deputy chairman, heads the group intending to form the faction within the party.
We will recall that the group announced the formation of the “Vatan” faction in early April this year. That time, it caused numerous rumors about split within the DPT, and charges and countercharges. Masoud Sobirov, who held a news conference to announce the formation of the faction, said that Vatan recognizes the party”s overall leadership for now, but he warned that the party has fallen out of touch with developments outside the capital and has failed to win any seats in the last two parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, Rahmatullo Valiyev charged that the faction was formed in violation of party regulations and suggested that the authorities might be behind the attempt to force a split.
ABOUT:
The Democratic Party of Tajikistan was founded on August 10, 1990. The party was registered on June 21 1991 and banned by Tajikistan’s Supreme Court on June 21 1993, re-registered on December 3 1999. Despite its 16-year history the DPT still counts only about little more than 3,500 members. Its leader, Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, who was also head of Tajik state gas company, was sentenced by the Tajik Supreme Court to 23 years in jail. The sentence followed Iskandarov’s conviction on charge of terrorism, the embezzlement of state funds and illegal possession of weapons.
