Tajikistan and Tajik News

Country Profile
Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan  is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia and is the smallest country in Central Asia..Tajikistan was the poorest republic of the Soviet Union and is the poorest country in Central Asia.Tajikistan consists of 4 administrative divisions.
Tajikistan means the "Land of the Tajiks"
Capital                        Dushanbe
Currency                     Somoni
Population                   7.6 Million(2011 Estimate)
Ethnic Groups              80% Tajik;15% Uzbek and 5% Others
Official Language         Tajik(a variety of Persian)
Religion                       98% Muslim (approximately 95% Sunni and 3% Shia)

History
In 1989 Tajik Supreme Soviet (legislature) declares Tajik to be official state language; Rastokhez People's Front established.
In 1990 State of emergency declared and some 5,000 Soviet troops sent to the capital, Dushanbe, to suppress pro-democracy protests.
In 1991 Supreme Soviet declares Tajikistan independent from the Soviet Union; Rahmon Nabiyev, Communist leader during 1982-85, wins Tajikistan's first direct presidential election with 57% of the vote; Tajikistan joins Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 1992 Anti-government demonstrations in Dushanbe escalate into civil war between pro-government forces and Islamist and pro-democracy groups which eventually claims 20,000 lives, displaces 600,000 and devastates the economy.
In 1993 Government re-establishes control, suppresses political opposition and imposes strict media controls; Supreme Court bans all opposition parties, leaving the Communist Party of Tajikistan as the only legal party; CIS peacekeeping force deployed on Tajik-Afghan border to prevent Islamist guerrilla groups infiltrating from bases in Afghanistan.
In 1994 Ceasefire between government and rebels agreed; Rahmonov announces willingness to negotiate with opposition; referendum approves draft constitution reinstituting presidential system; Rahmonov elected president in ballot deemed by international observers as neither free nor fair.





Politics and Government
Tajikistan is a Presidential Republic  whereby the President who is directly elected is both Head of State and Head of Govt  and of a Multi-Party System. The president is elected for a five year term by the people.
Legislative Power is vested in both the Executive branch and the two chambers of parliament.The President appoints the Prime Minister and all the members of the government, with parliamentary approval.
  
President of Tajikstan
Emomalii Rahmon  is the current President of Tajikistan (serving his 3rd term) in office from Nov 22,1992

 
Emomali Rakhmon, a former cotton farm boss, was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of Tajikistan in 1992 after the country's first post-Soviet leader, Rahmon Nabiyev, was forced to resign.
He was elected president in 1994 and re-elected in 1999 when his term was extended to seven years.
In 2006 he won a third term in office in an election which international observers said was neither free nor fair.The president has a firm grip on power. His People's Democratic Party holds virtually all seats in parliament. Western observers said legislative elections in 2006 and 2010 failed to meet international standards.
Prime Minister of Tajikistan
Oqil Oqilov is the current PM of Tajikistan in office from Dec 20,1999

Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan

The Bi-Cameral Supreme Assembly (Majlisi Oli) includes the 63-seat Assembly of Representatives which meets year-round (from November through end of June) .The members of the Assembly of Representatives are chosen by direct popular election for a five-year term.Of the 63 members of the Assembly of Representatives, 22 are elected by party, in proportion to the number of votes received by each party gaining at least 5 percent of total votes, and the remaining members are elected from single-member constituencies.
                                                                   and
33-seat National Assembly (Majlisi milli), which meets at least twice per year. In the National Assembly, three-fourths of the members are chosen by the deputies of the local representative assemblies (majlisi) in the country's fourmain administrative divisions.The remaining members are appointed directly by the President.

2010 Parliamentary Election -Feb 28,2010
International observers stated the election had "failed on many basic democratic standards", with widespread electoral fraud occurring.People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan won 55 out of 63 seats securing 71% Votes.Communist Party of Tajikistan;Agrarian Party;Party of Economic Reforms of Tajikistan and Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan got 2 seats each.

2006 Presidential Election - Nov 06,2006

The candidates were -
1)Emomalii Rahmon,the incumbent, and a member of the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan.resident Emomali Rakhmonov won a third term in office by capturing more than 79% of the total vote
2)Olimjon Boboyev,Party of Economic Reforms of Tajikistan who got only 6.2% Votes
3)Amir Qoraqulov,Agrarian Party got only 5.3% Votes
4)Ismoil Talbakov,Communist Party of Tajikistan got only 5.1% Votes

Tajikstan starts building one of the world's biggest mosques

Not content with erecting the world’s tallest flagpole earlier this year, Tajikistan now intends to build one of the world’s largest mosques.

When it is finished in 2014 the Dushanbe Grand Mosque will be one of the biggest mosques outside Saudi Arabia, holding roughly 115,000 worshippers at one time.

The oil-rich Gulf state of Qatar is paying $70 million of the $100 million cost.

 

Tajikistan Blocks Facebook

The ministry for communications told Tajik internet providers to cut access to Facebook and two other websites used by anti-government opposition groups  the day after Nick Harvey, the UK’s Armed Forces minister, was in Dushanbe, the capital, to discuss the British military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 (after FB carried copies of an article predicting revolution in the country)

 

Tajikistan blocks news website

The country has a growing reputation for adopting authoritarian policies.

Asia-Plus said that access to its website, asiaplus.tj, was blocked  because of reader comments deemed insulting to high ranking officials under a story it had published

Tajikistan to grant amnesty to 15,000 prisoners

Emomali Rakhmon, the President of Tajikistan, has announced an amnesty for 15,000 prisoners to mark the country's 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union.

"(This amnesty) is a humane act and will help the return of people who have committed crimes to civilian life, activity and family environment, as well as contribute to their correction," the presidential press service said in a statement

 

Tajikistan launches campaign to stop mobile phone use

President Emomali Rakhmon instructed health officials to target mainly youngsters in the campaign. He also complained that standard mobile phone bills amount to around one-seventh of the average monthly salary of $80 and that much of this revenue was leaving the country. 

An estimated 70 per cent of Tajikistan's seven million citizens own mobile phones.Ten mobile phone companies operate in Tajikistan.Reliance on the mobile communications technology is particularly acute in a country where much of the Soviet-era landline telephone network is substandard and often not connected to remote mountain localities.