DUSHANBE, August 23, Asia-Plus — A board of Tajikistan’s Democratic Party (DPT) assesses actions of an initiative group for convocation of the party’s extraordinary congress as actions of persons being not aware of the country’s laws and the party’s rules.
Mr. Khayriddin Gulyayev, deputy head of the DPT organization for Dushanbe, remarked this at a news conference in Dushanbe on August 23.
He noted that the DPT board had received a letter from the mentioned initiative group (A group of persons who have intended to form a “Vatan” (Homeland) faction within the party) with demand to convoke an extraordinary congress of the party before August 20. The letter was signed by 344 persons, according to Mr. Gulyayev.
“For its part, the DPT board familiarized itself with the letter and set up a commission to check authenticity of signatures under the letter,” Khayriddin Gulyayev said, noting that the commission completed its work on August 22.
“The commission has come to a conclusion that actions of the group and its demand for convoking the party’s extraordinary congress is illegal,” said Khayriddin Gulyayev, “Firstly, it has been established that the majority of signatures are forged and have been collected in the districts, where our party even does not have its primary organizations.”
According to him, the letter even contains a forged signature of the head of this commission Sadriddin Hasanzoda (Mr. Hasanzoda also attended the news conference). Besides, many of those who signed the letter have said that they were told that the signatures were collected in support for sending the party leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov to Moscow for making deposition or “for other reasons being far from reality.”
Mr. Rajab Mirzo, the head of the DPT organization for Dushanbe, telling the news conference suggested that “a huge force of evil” in the person of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDPT) was behind the actions of that initiative group. The main purpose of these actions is to split the party ahead the presidential election in the country.
Summarizing all what was noted at the news conference, representatives from the DPT noted that signatures collected by the initiative group were invalid and the law enforcement agencies should introduce appropriate measures against them.
In the meantime, Mr. Masoud Sobirov, the leader of the initiative group for convocation of the DPT extraordinary congress, has said in his interview with Asia-Plus that he is well aware of the country’s laws and the DPT rules. “I know the DPT rules and we have the right convoke and hold the extraordinary congress,” Mr. Sobirov said, noting that they plan to hold the extraordinary congress on August 27. “Our main objective is to create a really democratic society in Tajikistan,” he said. According to him, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan has fallen out of touch with developments outside the capital and the party’s main activity has reduced to giving news conferences in Dushanbe. “The party members in the region even do not know name of the party leader,” Mr. Sobirov said.
Mr. Sobirov claims that the initiative group has more than 1,500 supporters, which is 50 percent of a total number of members of the DPT.
We will recall that Masoud Sobirov held a news conference to announce the formation of the Vatan faction within the party in late March this year.
