DUSHANBE, August 28, Asia-Plus — The present situation in the Democratic Party (DPT) is internal affair of the party itself and settlement of this problems is outside competence of the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Davlat Sulaymonov, the head of the department for registration of public associations of the Ministry of Justice, said in his interview with Asia-Plus.
“Sixteen years ago we registered the Democratic Party of Tajikistan and its rules,” said Mr. Sulaymonov, “Under the party’s documents registered with the ministry its chairman is Mahmadruzi Iskandarov.”
According to him, the Ministry of Justice is currently studying documents on the results of work of carried out by the party commission to check authenticity of signatures collected by the initiative group for convocation of the party’s extraordinary congress.
The Tajik justice official has stressed once again that the present party’s leadership crisis is the internal affair of the party itself and should be resolved at a congress convoked by the DPT managing board registered with the Ministry of Justice.
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. Two factions were laying claim to the Democratic Party of Tajikistan: the Almaty platform led Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, which is registered in Tajikistan, and the Tehran platform led by Azam Afzali that transformed itself into the Taraqqiyot Party in late 2004. 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. The party’s leadership crisis heated up some six months ago when part of its membership announced formation of a “Vatan” (Homeland) faction within the party.
