DUSHANBE, September 26, 2008, Asia-Plus — More than 20,000 people have been expelled from the Tajik ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDPT) since 2000, Davlatali Davlatzoda, first deputy chairman of the party said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the main objective of the ‘purge’ is to get rid of persons who joined the party to attain their ambitious ends using authority of the party.
He also noted that those labor migrants that had not had any contacts with the party over the past several years and had not paid membership fees had also been expelled.
Davlatzoda stressed that purge of the party ranks may continue within the framework of a new stage of reforms within the party that had been launched after the August party conference.
Founded in 1993, the People’s Democratic Party was registered with the Ministry of Justice the same year. The PDPT is the largest political party in Tajikistan, boasting some 115,000 members. Its chairman is President Emomali Rahmon. The party currently controls some 80 percent of the seats in parliament. An official newspaper of the party is
Minbari Khalq
.
