DUSHANBE, December 18, 2009, Asia-Plus – The program of the Social-Democratic Party (SDPT) is based on principles of social justice and social democracy, the SDPT leader Rahmatillo Zoirov noted at a roundtable meeting “Political Parties and Parliamentary Elections” in Dushanbe on December 17.
On the upcoming parliamentary elections due in February 2010, Zoirov noted that it was necessary to ensure holding of fair and transparent elections in order to unite Tajik society.
He pointed to the necessity of organizing open discussions and debates during pre-election campaign. “TV and radio must actively cover debates and pre-election discussions,” said the SDPT leader, “Society should be well informed of political parties and their pre-election programs and platforms.”
“If I as leader of the SDPT appear on TV only one a year how can we bring our pre-election platform and ideology of our party to our voters?” “However, I am sure we will be able to pass a five percent threshold to win seats in parliament,” Zoirov said.
Founded in 2002, the Social-Democratic Party was registered in December the same year. The party was originally registered as the Party of Justice and Development in 1999. The Ministry of Justice requested the same year that the Supreme Court ban the party”s activities and its registration was canceled. The party re-emerged and was registered under its current name in late 2002. According to the SDPT deputy leader Shokirjon Hakimov, the party now numbers some 10,000 members.
The Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) has 63 members, who are directly elected for a period of 5 years. 22 are elected through a proportional, party list system from a single, countrywide constituency. To win seats, parties must pass a five percent threshold. The remaining 41 members are elected from single-mandate constituencies under a majoritarian system. In the single mandate constituencies, candidates must win an absolute majority of votes to be elected. If none of the contestants manages to win an absolute majority during the first round, a second round of voting is held between the two leading candidates two weeks later. For any of the elections to be valid, there must be at least a 50% voter turnout.
