The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan (APT) intends to increase the number of its representatives in the lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament (Majlisi Oli).
“The party will hold its pre-election congress in Dushanbe on December 20,” APT leader Rustam Latifzoda, who is also deputy of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the current convocation, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, the congress will not only endorse candidates put on the party list but also will approve the party’s electoral program.
“We intend to nominate not less than 30 candidates to run in the parliamentary elections that will take on March 1, 2020,” Latifzoda noted.
The Majlisi Namoyandagon is the lower house of Tajikistan’s parliament. It has 63 members, elected for a five-year term in, 22 by proportional representation (party list) and 41 in single-seat constituencies.
Except the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT), only the APT has its faction in the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the current convocation.
Recall, three members of the APT came to the parliament from the party list and two other members of the party won elections in single-mandate constituencies.
According to Tajikistan’s election legislation, at least five MPs are needed to form a faction.
The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan (APT) is the brainchild of its first chairman Amir Qaraqulov. The first deputy head of the party, Rustam Latifzoda, was elected acting chairman of the Agrarian Party in March 2014 after Amir Qaraqulov’s death. He was elected chairman of the party at the APT congress that took place in Dushanbe on December 18, 2014.
The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan was registered with the Ministry of Justice in November 2005. Like the Party of Economic Reforms (PER) 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 APT 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.
