DUSHANBE, July 6, 2015, Asia-Plus – Qiyomiddin Avaz, the head of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) in Dushanbe, has reportedly defected from the party under the pressure of the Dushanbe authorities.
In statement posted on the IRP’s website, Qiyomiddin Avaz says he withdrew from the party after the Dushanbe authorities made pressure on his family and elderly parents.
“My elderly parents living in the Vakhsh district were invited to the Dushanbe mayor’s office so that they would persuade me to withdraw from the party and I was forced to sign an application for withdrawing from the IRP in the presence of Deputy Dushanbe Mayor, Ms. Jamila Langariyeva,” Avaz notes in his statement.
He further stresses that he considers himself an active supporter and followers of the IRP until the party exists.
We will recall that the IRP board made a decision in mid-May to consider applications for departure from the party, which were signed under pressure, invalid.
Dozens of members and heads of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP)”s regional offices on June 20 and 21 announced their departures from the IRP by way of online videos. Some cited the party”s poor performance in the March 1 parliamentary elections, which left the IRP without a seat in parliament for the first time since 2000. Others said they were disheartened by a series of sex videos involving party officials. Still others simply reasoned that there was no need for an Islamic party in Tajikistan. Many of the online announcements end with expressions of support and gratitude for the policies of President Emomali Rahmon.
Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is the only Islamic party officially registered in former Soviet Central Asia. The IRP was registered on December 4, 1991. It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999. Its official newspaper is
Najot
(Salvation). According to some source, the IRP now has some 50,000 members.
Since 1999, the party has reportedly been the second-largest party in Tajikistan after the ruling People”s Democratic Party of Tajikistan.
In the 2005 and 2010 parliamentary elections, the IRP won two out of 63 seats in the parliament, but in the 2015 parliamentary polls the party failed to clear the 5 percent threshold needed to win parliament seats.
The party leaders said the elections were not fair and alleged fraud in vote-counting.
