Two inspections carried out in Tajik government bodies in 2014 and 2016 have reportedly revealed 41 public servants having dual citizenship – 21 in 2014 and 20 in 2016.
The head of the Public Service Agency under the President of Tajikistan, Mr. Juma Davlatov, noted during a meeting with reporters on August 4 that dual citizenship has been the most topical issue in the first half-year of 2017.
“Two inspections were carried out in the government bodies in 2014 and 2016. 21 public servants with dual citizenship were revealed in 2014 and 20 public servants with dual citizenship were revealed in 2016,” Davlatov said.
According to him, no pressure has been put on them. “Persons who wanted to retain the Russian citizenship resigned their positions voluntarily while others renounced the Russian citizenship,” the Public Service Agency head noted.
Today, there are 19,261 public servants in Tajikistan, including 8,700 (45.5 percent) people under the age of 35 and 4,340 women (22.5 percent.
Recall, Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament on April 12 endorsed amendments proposed to the country’s administrative code.
The amendments, in particular, stipulate that fines will be imposed on officials who withhold information about having citizenship of another country.
Presenting the amendments to lawmakers, Bakhtovar Safarzoda, the member of the Majlisi Namoyandagon Committee on the Constitutional Legality, noted that officials having dual citizenship must renounce the citizenship of another country or resign office.
Officials violating these requirements will pay fine equal to between 20 and 30 estimate indicators. Current estimate indicator is equal to 50.00 somoni.
On November 2, 2016, Tajik lawmakers approved amendments to the law that ban individuals with dual citizenship from serving in the country’s security services.
Presenting to lawmakers the amendments that would ban individuals with dual citizenship from serving in the country’s security services, the first deputy head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), Mansourjon Umarov, said the goal of the amendments was to protect national interests and prevent classified information from being leaked.
The Majlisi Namoyandagon on November 2 also approved amendments proposed to the country’s law on public service. They, in particular, ban dual citizenship for Tajik public servants.
It is to be noted that Tajikistan has an agreement on dual citizenship only with the Russian Federation.
Under Tajikistan’s legislation, the public service system includes public civil service, public military service, and law enforcement public service.
The public service law reportedly applies to political and administrative public servants.
