Tajik Parliament Vote: The Ruling Party is in Control

Five political parties are fielding candidates for Tajikistan's parliamentary election on February 27. However, opposition leaders complain that obstacles erected by authorities, including stringent registration requirements and tight control of mass media outlets, make the campaign seem as if President Imomali Rahmonov's governing party is running unopposed.

The registration period for candidates ended just three weeks before voters head to the polls to elect a new lower house of parliament, or Assembly of Representatives. In all, 63 parliamentary seats will be up for grabs, with 22 of those seats coming from party lists. The remainder will be elected in first-past-the-post races. The upper house, or National Assembly, is selected by regional councils.

Rahmonov's party, the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDP), is fielding a full slate of candidates in both the party list and individual constituency elections for the lower house. In sharp contrast, opposition parties encountered difficulties in fielding candidates. The Islamic Renaissance Party -- Rahmonov's arch-foe during the 1992-97 Tajik Civil War which now has a nominal presence in the government ö will have a party list of only 15 candidates, while 20 of the party's representatives will be running in individual constituencies. [For additional information click here]. The other parties fielding limited slates of candidates are the Communist Party, the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party.

According to a state television report February 10, one opposition party, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, did not have any candidates registered for the election. In December, the party's leader, Mahmudruzi Iskanderov was arrested in Moscow on a Tajik warrant that alleged his involvement in a terrorist plot and in the embezzlement of state funds. Party organizers insist the charges are politically motivated.

Opposition leaders say the government used the state's bureaucratic machinery to hinder their ability to participate in the vote. Specifically they pointed to a change to the election code ö adopted last June by the PDP-dominated legislature ö that imposed an approximately $800 registration fee on candidates. Opposition loyalists insist the fee is prohibitively high given that Tajikistan is Central Asia's poorest country, where the average monthly wage is roughly $25.

In some cases, opposition leaders have complained about outright government intimidation. In one case, representatives of the Social Democratic Party in northern Soghd Province alleged that local government officials pressured them to withdraw their candidacies.

In addition, opposition activists have complained about government efforts to tighten its grip on mass media outlets. In January, a Tajik media rights group ö the National Association of Independent Mass Media ö issued a statement accusing the government of trying to muzzle non-state-controlled news outlets during the run-up to the parliamentary vote. Among the tactics employed by officials were the refusal to grant accreditation to independent journalists and the use of tax inspectors to persecute non-state media outlets. In late January, for example, authorities closed the printing house that publishes the independent newspaper Nerui Sukhan. Those mass media outlets still in operation ö especially state television -- devote the overwhelming portion of their campaign coverage to the ruling party and its candidates.

A mission from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) largely concurred with the views of opposition leaders. "According to the opinion of many interlocutors, the political environment is characterized by the increasing centralization of power by the ruling party, and by a narrowing freedom of media," ODIRH's Needs Assessment Mission said in a report released in December.

Under current conditions, the PDP appears virtually certain of retaining firm control of the legislature. One wild card that the government is evidently concerned about is terrorism. On January 31, a powerful car bomb detonated in central Dushanbe outside the Emergencies Ministry. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Since then, officials have kept information concerning the blast and the resulting investigation largely under wraps. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. On February 4, Abdurahim Qahhorov, a top Interior Ministry official, told the Asia-Plus news agency that "a great number of people are being interrogated every day" in connection with the explosion. However, Tajik authorities have declined to confirm Russian media reports that suspects have been taken into custody.

So far, it does not appear that the incident has damaged the PDP's poll prospects. In the current legislature, the PDP controls 38 seats, while the Communist Party has five and the Islamic Renaissance Party two. The remaining 18 seats are occupied by nominal independents, but many of these MPs have ties to the PDP.