DUSHANBE, March 2, Asia-Plus — Six polling stations set up in Tajikistan for the Russian presidential elections will open be open for voters today morning, at 8:00 a.m. local time.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Vasily Beldyugin, the head of the consular section at the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe, said that the poling stations had been set up at the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe, at headquarters of Russian military base in Dushanbe; at the space- surveillance center in Norak, at the Russian Consulate in Khujand, and the military base’s sub-units in Kulob and Qurghon Teppa.
Beldyugin noted that at present more than 12,000 Russian nationals live in Tajikistan permanently. Besides, some 7,000 Russian citizens are currently in Tajikistan on long-term missions, including servicemen of the Russian military base, officers of the Russian operational group and specialists constructing the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant. “Thus, some 20,000 people are expected to come the poling stations to cast vote,” Russian diplomat said.
Asked about observers to monitor the voting process, Beldyugin said that they had not received any official letter from the Central Commission fro Elections and Referenda (CCER) for monitoring the voting process in the territory of Tajikistan. “Observers who would like to monitor the voting process should have been registered with the Russian Central Electoral Commission,” Beldyugin said.
As it had been reported earlier, a Tajik delegation led the CCER head Mirzoali Boltuyev went to Moscow for Moscow to observe Russian presidential election on February 29. The delegation members include Jaloliddin Mahmoudov, representative of the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT) to the CCER, Yoqubjon Madumarov, a chief specialist with the CCER, and Lyudmila Hasanova, representative from President’s Executive Office.
We will recall that a number of Russian nationals living in Tajikistan participated in an early Russia’s vote for president on February 24. Early elections were held at polling stations opened in Tursunzoda, at the site for the Sangtuda-1 power plant, at the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe, as well as at Sughd’s towns of Istaravshan, Isfara and Chkalovsk. 28 border officers cast vote at the polling station opened at the Embassy, 208 Russian nationals cast vote at the polling station opened at the Sangtuda-1 site, and 80 Russian citizens had cast vote in Tursunzoda.
The Russian presidential election of 2008 has Dmitry Medvedev, a Kremlin-backed candidate supported by incumbent president Vladimir Putin, the candidates of the Communist party, the nationalist LDPR and pro-Western and Kremlin-linked DPR (Democratic Party of Russia).
