Tajikistan’s law enforcement authorities and power-wielding structures will be put under high security conditions on February 28, an official source within the Tajik Interior Ministry told Asia-Plus today morning.
According to him, reinforced police outfits will patrol streets, public places and bazaars in all large cities of the country.
A special interagency commission has reportedly been set up to coordinate activities of law enforcement authorities and power-wielding structures during the election period.
In all, 3,371 polling stations will open across the country and they will be taken under round-the-clock protection, the source added.
Voters in Tajikistan will go to the polls on March 1 to cast ballots in parliamentary elections. Seven parties are registered to compete.
The only opposition party left in the race is the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT). According to Radio Liberty, SDPT leader Rahmatullo Zoyirov said that he had met with voters more than 60 times.
Recall, 240 candidates will compete for 63 seats in Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament (Majlisi Milli). Of them, 176 will run for parliament in 41 single-mandate constituencies and 65 others will compete for 22 seats in a single nationwide district.
48 of the officially registered candidates are women.
Members of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) are directly elected for a five-year term according to a mixed majoritarian-proportional system. Of the 63 MPs, 41 are elected from single-mandate districts, with the winning candidate requiring a majority of votes cast. If no candidate receives a majority, a second round is held within two weeks between the two leading candidates. More than 50 per cent of registered voters must participate for the election to be valid; otherwise, repeat elections must be held.
The other 22 MPs are elected from a single nationwide district under a proportional, closed-list system with a five percent threshold.
