The 13th congress of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT) will take place at the Kokhi Borbad State Complex in Dushanbe on December 13.
An official source within the PDPT Central Executive Committee says more than 2,000 delegates from all regions of the country will participate in the congress.
“PDPT leader Emomali Rahmon will report on the results of the work carried out by the party over the past five years,” said the source. “The congress will approve new compositions of the party’s Central Executive Committee and other bodies of the PDPT.”
According to him, the congress participants will pay a special attention to preparations for the upcoming elections to the country’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) and local councils (Majlis) scheduled for March 1, 2020.
The congress will also approve the list of candidates nominated for election though the proportional representation (party list), the source added.
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.
The PDPT is the only political party in Tajikistan that has its offices in Dushanbe and in a number of cities and districts of the country.
The party now has its offices in eighteen cities and districts across the country. In some districts, the party rents buildings for its district organizations.
The PDPT organizing committee was established in 1993, and the party itself was established on December 10, 1994. Until April 1998, it was called the People's Party of Tajikistan.
The party stands for a secular state and society (secularism).
The People’s Democratic Party is the largest political party in Tajikistan, boasting more than 500,000 registered members. President Emomali Rahmon is chairman of the party.
The party has its branches in all regions and largest settlements of Tajikistan. The youth wing of the party is called the Sozandagoni Vatan (Creators of the Motherland).
At the legislative elections, February 27 and March 13, 2005, the PDPT won 74% of the popular vote and 52 out of 63 seats (74 percent of the popular vote). This was an increase from the 2000 elections, in which they won 64.9% of the vote and 38 seats. At the legislative elections, February 28, 2010, the party won 71.69% of the popular vote and 45 out of 63 seats. At the last legislative election, March 1, 2015, the PDPT won 65.4 percent of the vote and 51 out of 63 seats.
