Text of report by the Tajik news agency Khovar on 28th
September

[Agency headline] The Islamic Rebirth Party has nominated the
minister of the economy and foreign economic relations as a
candidate in the presidential elections of Tajikistan
Dushanbe, 27th September (ITAR-TASS and Khovar
correspondent). A prominent figure in the Islamic Rebirth
Party, the 44-year-old minister of economics and foreign
economic relations, Davlat Usmon, has been nominated as a
candidate in the republic's presidential elections to be held
on 6th November this year. His candidacy was supported by the
overwhelming majority of the delegates at the Islamic Rebirth
Party's congress, the second stage of which was held in
Dushanbe today after a week's break.

Delivering a speech before the voting, a deputy leader of
the party and the first deputy prime minister from the
opposition side, Haji Akbar Turajonzoda, tried to convince the
delegates of the inadvisibility of nominating a candidate from
the party. "In the difficult sociopolitical situation a step
like this by us may unite anti-Islamic forces against us not
only in the region," Haji Akbar Turajonzoda said, taking into
account the developments both in the neighbouring Central Asian
states and in Russia. In this connection, he rejected a
proposal by the leader of the Islamic Rebirth Party, Sayed
Abdullo Nuri, to agree to the nomination of his candidacy and
withdrew his candidacy.

"Our party has always agreed to a compromise before, for
the sake of stopping bloodshed, then for the sake of
maintaining the peace, of participating in the sociopolitical
life of the country and the government," Turajonzoda noted.
"Now we must concentrate our attention on the preparations for
the parliamentary elections." In this connection, he called on
the delegates at the congress to support the candidacy of the
incumbent president, Emomali Rahmonov, nominated to the
country's highest state post by the People's Democratic Party
last Friday [23rd September]. However, the delegates did not
support his appeal.

The heads of a number of international organizations,
including the head of the OSCE mission in Tajikistan, Marin
Buhoara, and representatives of other political parties in the
republic, were present at the congress.

Source: Khovar news agency, Dushanbe, in Russian 0918 gmt 28
Sep 99
BBC Mon CAU 290999/** GR/MI