The leader of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) has been replaced.
An extraordinary congress of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan that took place in Dushanbe on May 11 recognized the party's activities carried out over the past two years as unsatisfactory and it was proposed to make changes to the party leadership.
Three candidates were proposed for the position of chairman of the party, namely Shahboz Abror, Abdujabbor Yuldoshev and Ilyosiddin Sidjafarov. The latter withdrew his candidacy.
Of 94 delegates participating in the congress, 64 votes for Shahboz Abror and eight voted for Abdujabbor Yuldoshev.
Saidjafar Usmonzoda, who had headed the party since December 2012, did not attended the congress and his reaction on the voting results is still unknown, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reported on May 11.
Thus, based on the results of an open vote, Shahboz Abror was elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan.
The Democratic Party of Tajikistan can trace its origins back to the last days of the Soviet Union. Registered on June 21, 1991 and banned by the Supreme Court on June 21, 1993, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan was reregistered on December 3, 1999.
At the end of 1990s, two factions laid claim to the Democratic Party of Tajikistan: the Almaty platform led by Mahmadruzi Iskandarov and the Tehran platform run by Azam Afzali. The Tehran platform later transformed itself into the Taraqqiyot (Progress) Party.
On October 5, 2005, the Supreme Court sentenced DPT leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov to 23 years in prison. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of terrorism, the embezzlement of state funds, and the illegal storage of weapons, though his supporters say he was jailed for political motives.
The party split into two factions again and the Ministry of Justice recognized Masoud Sobirov as the legitimate leader of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan in October 2006.
Democrats in the Sughd province and the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) as well as some primary organizations of the party in other regions of the country did not recognize Masoud Sobirov as the party leader and they demanded convocation of the extraordinary congress of the party.
An extraordinary congress of the party took place in Dushanbe on December 23, 2012 and Saidjafar Usmonzoda was elected as chairman of the party.
DPT leaders claim that the party now has more than 80,000 members
Meanwhile, according to information posted on DPT’s official website, the party has had 52,000 members as of January 1, 2022.
Some sources noted in 2019 that the Democratic Party of Tajikistan has not more than 20,000 members.
