DUSHANBE, February 13, 2009, Asia-Plus — On Friday February 13, The Social-Democratic Party (SDPT) gave a press conference to clarify its position regarding parliamentary elections that ill be held in the country in February 2010.
Speaking to reporters, the SDPT leader Rahmatillo Zoirov noted that the party board met on February 12 to discuss that issue. “Some of the party board members proposed to boycott the elections or just not to participate in them because there is a reason to question the fairness of the elections,” said Zoirov, “However, the majority of members of the party board insisted on participation in the elections that will be fateful for the country.” According to him, further wellbeing and stability and the country depend of the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
Mr. Zoirov also noted that the SDPT offered to cancel registered fee imposed by the parliamentary elections code on individuals seeking to contest the election. The parliamentary election code requires candidates to pay a registration fee of 5,000 somoni that prevents candidates of many parties from running in parliamentary elections, the SDPT leader noted. “Therefore, we are going to officially apply to the president in the near future with solicitation to cancel the registration fee,” Zoirov said.
On the present political and socioeconomic situation in the country, Zoirov noted, “Today, we may see not only a systematic crisis inside the republic itself but also crisis in the country’s foreign policy. “The latest events have demonstrated that our government does not know where to go and who cooperate with, and our foreign policy does not have sustainable reference point,” the SDPT leader said.
