The President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, has signed a decree setting the date for the elections of the new composition of the Majlisi Oli (Tajikistan’s parliament) and local councils, the Tajik president’s official website reported on December 4.
According to the decree, elections to the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower house of parliament) and legislatures of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), provinces, the city of Dushanbe, and cities and districts will take place on March 2, 2025.
On the same day, elections will be held for members settlement and village jamoats (the third-level administrative divisions in Tajikistan)
The elections to the Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament) will take place on March 28, 2025.
The upcoming elections will determine the new composition of the legislative and representative bodies of power.
The 63 members of the Majlisi Namoyandagon are elected by two methods: 41 members are elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system, whilst 22 seats are elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, with an electoral threshold of 5%. Voters cast a single ballot for a candidate in their single-member constituency, with the total votes received across all constituencies used to determine the proportional seats. In each constituency, voter turnout is required to be at least 50% for the election to be declared valid.
In 2020, the parliamentary elections were held on March 1 and the voter turnout was reportedly more than 86 percent.
The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDPT) won parliamentary elections. 50.4 percent of the ballots cast supported the ruling People's Democratic Party, securing 47 seats in the 63-seat Majlisi Namoyandagon.
The Agrarian Party (APT), the Party of Economic Reforms (PER), the Socialist Party (SPT) and the Democratic Party (DPT) also won seats in the lower house of parliament.
The Agrarian Party secured 7 seats, the Party of Economic Reforms won five, and the Communist Party got two seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon.
The Democratic Party and the Socialist Party got one seat each by the party lists.
The Social-Democratic Party (SDPT) was unable to pass the 5 percent minimum barrier to get a seat in the legislature. The party has blamed it on Tajik authorities’ failure to hold free and fair elections.
The Majlisi Milli has 33 members: 25 elected for a five-year term by members of local councils and 8 appointed by the president. By right, former presidents are members for life.
In 2020, twenty-five members were elected on March 27 and the president appointed one quarter of the members in April, bringing the total number of members to thirty-one.
