DUSHANBE, November 4, 2014, Asia-Plus — The Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) has supported the Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT)’s proposal to abolish an electoral fee required from each candidate running in the parliamentary elections.
“An electoral deposit prevents many prospective candidates from running,” DPT leader Saidjaffar Ismonov told Asia-Plus in an interview.
At the same time, he noted that the electoral deposit of 4,000 somoni was not burdensome for his party.
We will recall that Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) on February 25 this year passed the law requiring amendments to the country’s law “On Elections to the Majlisi Oli of Tajikistan.”
The law, in particular, provides for reducing the electoral deposit required from each candidate from 8,000 somoni to 4,000 somoni.
Ismonov further noted that they planned to win at least five seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) next year. “We intend to create our faction in the parliament,” Ismonov said.
“We will include 15-16 candidates in the party list and two or three our candidates will run in single-mandate constituencies,” DPT leader added.
The Democratic Party of Tajikistan can trace its origins back to the last days of the Soviet Union. Registered on June 21, 1991 and banned by the Supreme Court on June 21, 1993, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan was reregistered on December 3, 1999.
At the end of 1990s, two factions laid claim to the Democratic Party of Tajikistan: the Almaty platform led by Mahmadruzi Iskandarov and the Tehran platform run by Azam Afzali. The Tehran platform later transformed itself into the Taraqqiyot (Progress) Party.
On October 5, 2005, the Supreme Court sentenced DPT leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov to 23 years in prison. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of terrorism, the embezzlement of state funds, and the illegal storage of weapons, though his supporters say he was jailed for political motives.
The party split into two factions again and the Ministry of Justice recognized Masoud Sobirov as the legitimate leader of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan in October 2006.
Democrats in Sughd province and Gorno Badakhshan as well as some primary organizations of the party in other regions of the country did not recognize Masoud Sobirov as the party leader and they demanded convocation of the extraordinary congress of the party.
An extraordinary congress of the party took place in Dushanbe on December 23, 2012 and Saidjaffar Ismonov was elected as chairman of the party.
