DUSHANBE, April 6, 2012, Asia-Plus — The Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Tax Committee under the Government of Tajikistan have reportedly inspected activities of political parties.
Usmon Soleh, head of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), says that over the past two weeks they have inspected activities of four political parties, including PDP.
“Tax officers were checking our arrivals income sources,” said Soleh. “We do not yet have information about the inspection findings.”
Leader of the Communist Party (CPT) Shodi Shabdolov says he is not against inspection of political parties’ activities. “But inspecting bodies should not overdo it,” CPT leader noted.
According to him, prosecutors and tax officers have inspected not only their headquarters in Dushanbe but also their offices in the provinces. “In some regions, local authorities asked to give them the full information about members of the CPT and their addresses, but their request was turned down,” said Shabdolov. “Only the Ministry of Justice has the right to demand lists and contacts of members of political parties and if they need this information they must apply to the Ministry of Justice.”
“They also inspected financial activities of the party and were surprised that there are no receipts on the party’s accounts. We explained them that receipts coming from the provinces are miserable, and therefore, there is no point in depositing them to our bank accounts,” said CPT leader. “We do not have any financial receipts from abroad.”
Rahmatillo Zoirov, leader of the National Social-Democratic Party (NSDP), says prosecutors and tax officers have yet come to his party.
Masoud Sobirov, chairman of the Democratic Party (DPT), says the authorities have not yet inspected DTP’s activities because the former leadership of the party has not yet handed over the balance sheet to them.
Activities of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) have also been inspected. The Prosecutor-General’s Office is currently inspecting activities of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRP), BBC’s Tajik Service on March 30 quoted the member of IRP’s Political Council, Hikmatullo Sayfullozoda, as saying that prosecutors and tax officers have inspected the party’s financial activities. Anonymous source at the Prosecutor-General’s Office reportedly told BBC that activities of the Islamic Revival Party like activities of other political parties are being inspected in accordance with the endorsed program of the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
We will recall that according to some media sources, Polyarnaya Zvezda on March 1 published an article entitled “Tajikistan on the Eve of Revolution.” The article covered a meeting in which President Emomali Rahmon allegedly ordered security services to increase surveillance of local religious groups and members of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan.
