DUSHANBE, December 14, 2009, Asia-Plus — Ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDPT) will convene its pre-election congress on December 26.
The congress that will take place at the Kokhi Borbad State Complex in Dushanbe is expected to bring together 1900 delegates from all regions of the country, Usmon Solehov, the head of the PDPT agitation and propaganda department, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the party will also celebrate its 15th anniversary on December 26 and on this occasion, representatives of ruling parties from Russia (Yedinaya Rossiya, meaning United Russia), Kazakhstan (Nur Otan, meaning Fatherland’s Ray of Light), Kyrgyzstan (Ak Jol, meaning Genial Path), and Azerbaijan (Yeni Azerbaijan, meaning New Azerbaijan) have been invited to attend the PDPT congress.
As it had been reported earlier, the PDPT congress is expected to consider four issues: report of the central committee; making changes and addenda to the party’s charter (mainly structural changes “that will allow strengthening intra-party discipline and pluralism within the party”); nomination of candidates to run in the 2010 parliamentary elections; and discussion of the party’s pre-election platform. The PDPT will have a party list of 22 candidates for the 2010 parliamentary elections.
We will recall that of 63 seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament), 22 seats come from party lists.
The party’s pre-election platform reportedly includes three main directions: Tajikistan’s gaining energy security; providing food security; and bringing the country out of the transportation deadlock.
People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan was founded in 1993. PDPT is the biggest political party in the country, boasting more than 120 registered members. Its chairman is President Emomali Rahmon. The party controls more than 80 percent of the seats in parliament.
