DUSHANBE, February 8, 2010, Asia-Plus — Some government officials are violating the parliamentary elections code, interfering in the pre-election race, Rahmatillo Zoirov, leader of the Social-Democratic Party (SDPT), stated at a news conference in Dushanbe on February 8.
According to him, the majority of instances of such violations have been recorded outside Dushanbe in the provinces. “Our party has recorded 15 instances of violation of the parliamentary elections code so far,” the SDPT leader said, noting that they informed the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) of those infringements.
He stressed that the report on all recorded instances of the violation of the election legislation would be submitted to head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan in the near future.
According to him, one of the most widespread violations is the fact that only local officials have been attending meetings of candidates with voters in the provinces. “Thus, we did not see any voter at the meetings with voters that took place in the Hissor district and the city of Tursunzoda; only local officials attended those meetings,” said Zoirov, “The other problem in this area is change of schedule of meetings; as a result of this seven political parties, except the People’s Democratic Party (PDPT), have failed to hold meetings with voters there.”
In the meantime, Muhiddin Kabiri, leader of the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT), told Asia-Plus today that local authorities in the provinces have begun to interfere in the pre-election race, breaking president’s order demanding that government officials avoid interfering in the parliamentary elections.
According to him, the IRPT is sending complaints to the CCER on this subject practically every day. “There are also instances of infringements, when the election legislation is violated unintentionally,” said Kabiri, “Such violations are caused by the ignorance of the law; some local officials and members of electoral commissions in the provinces are not well aware of the country’s parliamentary elections code.”
However, the IRPT has also recorded instances of more serious and deliberate violation of the election legislation and the party has informed the CCER of them, he added.
