DUSHANBE, October 3, 2014, Asia-Plus — The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan is making preparations for the next parliamentary elections that are expected to take place in the country in February next year.
Last month, acting leader of the party, Rustam Latifzoda, held meetings with residents of southern Khatlon province and the APT activist Zayniddin Safarov, who represents the party in Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament, was in the Rasht Valley (eastern Tajikistan) to hold meetings with activists of the party’s organizations in the area.
The main purpose of the meetings was for the party leaders to discuss preparations for the 2015 parliamentary elections
An official source at ARP’s head office in Dushanbe says the party will hold its 6th congress in Dushanbe on December 18. “The congress will determine a party list of candidates for the 2015 parliamentary elections and elect new leader of the party,” the source said.
According to him, the party plans to increase the number of its representatives in the Majlisi Namoyandagon and local legislatures.
The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan (APT) is the brainchild of its first chairman Amir Qaraqulov. The first deputy head of the party, Rustam Latifzoda, who is also chairman of the Vose district in Khatlon province, was elected acting chairman of the Agrarian Party in March this year after Amir Qaraqulov’s death.
The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan was registered with the Ministry of Justice in November 2005. Like the Party of Economic Reforms that was also registered with the Ministry of Justice in November 2005, the Agrarian Party is seen as a “pocket party.” In 2010, the APT won two seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon.
According to some source, the APT now has some 30,000 members. The majority of APT”s members are farmers and peasants, but the upper echelon are agriculture specialists.
The AP has no clear ideological outline, and mainly focuses on the issue of agricultural production. The party advocates for a halt in export of raw materials from Tajikistan, and for the country to switch to the production and export of finished products.
