Tajik opposition alleges parliament election fraud.

2/3 Tass 222

DUSHANBE, March 2 (Itar-Tass) - Leader of the Party of the Islamic
Revival of Tajikistan Mukhiddin Kabiri called last Sunday's parliamentary
election "a farce." He also claimed that the election results had been
falsified.
"The Party reserves the right to challenge the election results in
court," Kabiri told news conference on Tuesday.
"The president's promise to hold free elections was trampled away at
these polls, which were accompanied by mass violations of the election
law," the politician emphasized.
"The 7.7 percent of votes for the Party of the Islamic Revival of
Tajikistan, announced by the Central Election Commission are simply
hilarious. During the 2005 election, our followers gathered 10 percent,
but at that time, our Party was much smaller and less organized than
today. Aside the legal actions, the Party will resort to other forms of
protests, such as hunger strikes and rallies. But all this will happen
within the legal fold, within the framework of the Constitution," Kabiri
said.
Created during the five-year armed confrontation in 1989, the Party
was part of the unified Tajik opposition fighting the government. After
the signing of the peace deal in Moscow in 1997, the Party of the Islamic
Revival of Tajikistan was legalized and took part in all subsequent
parliamentary and presidential elections. It is represented by two
lawmakers in the incumbent parliament.
Kabiri claims his Party had netted at least 35 percent of votes, and
that it counts on at least ten mandates in the legislature.
Meanwhile, leader of the Social-Democratic Party Rakhmatillo Zoyirov
(which enlisted the support of less than one percent of votes, according
to the CEC), said "the elections were neither democratic not transparent,
while fraud in vote-counting reached an unprecedented proportion."
Zoyirov, a "permanent opponent" to Tajik leader Emomali Rakhmon, named
among the violations the interfering of election commission in
ballots-casing, the pressure on votes, the ban on taking videos of the
voting, and ballot fraud.
Unexpectedly, leader of the Communist party, traditionally loyal to
the incumbent authorities, backed the Opposition's claims. "These
elections were unfair, a parody," said Shoddi Shabdolov, leader of the
Communist Party which finished with 7.22 percent of votes.
The Democratic and Socialist Parties have never succeeded in clearing
the 5-percent barrier to the parliament. They, too, complained about
election fraud.
Tajikistan's election officials said the ruling People's Democratic
Party had gathered 71.69 percent of votes. The Party of Economic Reforms
and the Agrarian Party unexpectedly netted 5-odd percent of votes and
obtained the status of the parties represented in the parliament.
There were eight political parties taking part in the recent election,
with 214 candidates vying for 63 mandates.
Turnout was 87.1 percent, the CEC reported.
The observer missions sent by the Commonwealth of Independent States
and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, called the elections "free and
open," while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in European
routinely expressed "disappointment."
CEC representative Abdurakhmon Abdumannonov announced that the ruling
party led by Tajik President Rakhmon, has a two-thirds majority in the new
parliament (45 of 63 mandates).
Self-nominees won nine mandates, having gathered more than 50 percent
of votes in their constituencies.
One mandate is free, pending a run-off election involving a ruling
party representative and a Social Democrat.
-0-myz/usn