Tajikistan has adopted the Code of Ethical Conduct for Public Servants in new edition that obligates Tajik public servants to be modest, not to accept gifts and not to undermine the prestige of the country.
Besides, they should not express their opinion on issues of state policy if it [opinion] does not coincide with the government policy.
The president signed the Code of Ethical Conduct for Public Servants in new edition on August 11 but it became available only in late August.
The code of ethics in public service reportedly “regulates set of norms, principles and rules of office and out-of-office behavior of a public servant, expressing moral qualities of his/her professional activity and behavior in office and society, universally recognized human values, and social ethical demands.”
The code provisions apply to political and administrative public servants.
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.
