A joint conference of the ruling People’ Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT)’s organizations for Rasht, Nourobod, Lakhsh, Tojikobod and Sangvor districts took place in Gharm, the administrative center of the Rasht district, on January 10.
The conference participants unanimously voted for nominating Deputy Prime Minister, Mahmadtoir Zokirov, as the candidate to run for the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament), a source within the PDPT says.
Local experts believe that Mahmadtoir Zokirov will be the next speaker of the Majlisi Namoyandagon, replacing Shukurjon Zuhurov as this position is reserved for representatives of the Rasht region.
Parliamentary elections will take place in Tajikistan on March 2020. The Majlisi Namoyandagon has 63 members, elected for a five-year term in, 22 by proportional representation (party list) and 41 in single-seat constituencies.
Mahmadtoir Zokirov was born on July 24, 1956 in the RASHT DISTRICT. He graduated from the Tselinograd (currently Nur-Sultan) Agriculture Institute, Kazakhstan.
In different years, he had worked with President’s Executive Office and headed the Emergencies Committee. In 2008, he was director of the Agency for Land Management and Geodesy. In 2010, Zokirov headed the State Committee for Land Management and Geodesy. In 2015-2016, he was Minister of Agriculture, and since 2016, he has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan.
Zokirov is married with two children.
