An extraordinary congress of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT) took place at the Kokhi Borbad State Complex in Dushanbe on September 3.
More than 1,000 delegates reportedly participated in the congress and they unanimously voted for nomination of the incumbent President Emomali Rahmon as candidate for president.
Earlier, the League of Youth of Tajikistan and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Tajikistan had formally announced their nomination of Emomali Rahmon, who is the longest-serving leader in the former Soviet Union, suggesting that the incumbent president would participate in the upcoming presidential election.
The other candidates in the election currently comprise Rustam Latifzoda from the Agrarian Party, Abduhalim Ghafforov from the Socialist Party, Saidjaffar Usmonzoda of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, and Rustam Rahmatzoda from the Party of Economic Reforms.
The Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT) is expected to nominate its candidate for president on September 5.
Local experts, however, say other candidates that will run in the October presidential election will just serve a purely decorative function.
The Social-Democratic Party, which is the only officially registered opposition party in Tajikistan, has declined to nominate its candidate for president.
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 latest legislative elections that took place on March 1, 2020, the PDPT won 65.4 percent of the vote and 51 out of 63 seats. At the previous parliamentary elections, March 1, 2015, the ruling party won 65.4 percent of the vote and 51 out of 63 seats. At the legislative elections that took place on February 28, 2010, the PDPT won 71.69% of the popular vote and 45 out of 63 seats. At the parliamentary elections that took place on February 27, 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.
