DUSHANBE, November 14, 2013, Asia-Plus — The Islamic Revival Party (IRP) Political Council held a meeting yesterday to discuss the results of the presidential election that took place in Tajikistan on November 6.
A statement released by the IRP Political Council, in particular, notes that the election has shown once again that “the authorities do not have political will to hold free elections in the country.”
The authorities created artificial barriers for the opposition parties and persons and blackened their reputation through state-run media, the statement said.
The IRP Political Council notes that labor migrants were deprived of the right to participate of the signature-gathering process.
The IRP Political Council assessed the 2013 presidential election as undemocratic and non-transparent.
“The IRP Political Council calls on the new government to get young technocrats involved in the work, set up a commission for carrying out constitutional reforms, create free and democratic atmosphere for holding parliamentary elections in 2015, and stop the practice of persecution of opposition parties and persons for political beliefs,” the statement stressed.
We will recall that the Social-Democrat Party (SDP) boycotted the poll, saying the election campaign had been held amid “violations of the constitution” and with “state-organized falsifications.” The SDP accuses Tajik authorities of creating obstacles that prevented the Islamic Revival Party (IRP)’s candidate, Ms. Oynihol Bobonazarova, from successfully registering.
