DUSHANBE, April 6, 2011, Asia-Plus — Electoral commission for Dushanbe’s constituency # 4 (Sino district) yesterday registered four candidates for parliamentary by-election (special election) scheduled for on May 15.
Among them are Amirqul Azimov nominated by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDPT), Muzaffar Mirzoyev nominated by the Agrarian Party (APT) and two self-propelled candidates — Tolibshoh Saidzoda, editor-in-chief of the Dushanbe weekly
Millat
(Nation), and Safarbek Mannonov, deputy director of the National Medical Center.
In the meantime, the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) candidate Said Ibrohim Nazar has refused to register for the by-election.
The electoral commission chairman Abdullo Habibov told Asia-Plus today that the IRP candidate has refused to register for the by-election because the IRP members were not included into polling stations.
“Under the country’s election legislation, representatives of political parties cannot be members of the polling stations, they just may attend the poling stations as observers,” Habibov said, noting that compositions of the polling stations have not been formed so far.
“The IRP candidate has time until April 15 to change his mind and we are ready to register him as candidate for the upcoming parliamentary by-election,” the electoral commission head added.
Representative from the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) says that Said Ibrohim Nazar ran for a seat in the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) in Kulob’s constituency in 2005. “At that time, at first Said Ibrohim Nazar also refused to register for the same reason but he then changed his mind,” he noted.
The by-election will be held on May 15 following appointment of Shermuhammad Shohiyon who formerly represented Dushanbe’s constituency # 4 in the Majlisi Namoyandagon as the CCER chairman.
Dushanbe’s constituency # 4 reportedly numbers some 70,000 voters and 48 polling stations are expected to be set up in the constituency.
