Associated Press - 02.28.2005

Opposition, monitors say Tajikistan parliamentary election tainted by fraud

By BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA, Associated Press

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - The party of strongman President Emomali Rakhmonov appeared headed for an easy victory Monday but the opposition parties alleged systematic vote-rigging and other breaches in weekend parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic.

The Central Election Commission said Rakhmonov's National Democratic Party had won about 80 percent of the vote, but it didn't specify what percentage of the ballots had been counted.

All four opposition and one pro-government party accused authorities of intimidating voters, allowing multiple voting and ballot-box stuffing. They demanded that the election results be reviewed and officials responsible for violations be punished.

``It was complete falsification,'' said opposition Islamic Renaissance Party leader Muhiddin Kabiri.

The five losing parties called for the voting to be declared invalid, Communist Party head Shodi Shabdolov said in a statement. Rahmatullo Zoirov, leader of the Socialist Democratic Party, said the parties would call for public protests across the country if their demands aren't met.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which sent about 150 observers, said the elections were disappointing, saying authorities largely controlled the campaign and accusing officials of interfering with independent media.

``We witnessed direct falsification. The extent of these irregularities does raise doubts about the integrity of the tabulation process,'' OSCE mission chief Peter Eicher told reporters.

Sunday's election pitted a fledgling opposition against the party of Rakhmonov, accused by critics of stifling dissent. They say his recent steps - such as a referendum in 2003 giving him the right to seek re-election until 2020 - threaten the country's stability and hopes for democracy.

Six parties contested 63 seats in Parliament's lower house, with 41 lawmakers being chosen directly. The other 22 seats were to be divided among parties winning at least 5 percent of the vote.

The election commission said the ruling party had won all 38 of the directly elected seats decided so far. The other three will be decided in run-offs within two months.

The Islamic Renaissance Party and the pro-government Communist Party gained about 10 percent of the vote each. Results were yet to come from some remote mountainous areas, but commission chief Mirzoali Boltuyev said the three other parties failed to gain enough votes to get their members into parliament.

Election officials said turnout was 88 percent, well exceeding the minimum 50 percent needed to make the vote valid. About 3.1 million people were eligible to vote.

The OSCE and the opposition accused the election commission of inflating the vote total, but there was no immediate way to independently confirm the commission's claims.

Rakhmonov, 52, had assured international observers that the elections would be held in a democratic manner. But in the past several months, authorities shut down several independent and opposition newspapers and launched investigations of two opposition leaders.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement Monday that reports of violations from foreign observers and the opposition ``raises questions about how well the final results will reflect the will of the people.''

``One of the egregious violations of international democratic standards was government harassment of independent media on legalistic technicalities,'' it said.

Commenting on criticism of the elections, Rakhmonov warned Sunday it is ``dangerous to force democracy'' on a diverse and fractious society like Tajikistan.

Kabiri, the Islamic Renaissance Party leader, said Monday that ``people are ready for democracy. What we need to change is the mentality of the powers that be. What is preventing them from letting people freely express their will?''

The Islamic Renaissance Party is the only opposition party in Parliament, with just two seats. The others have scant resources and limited public support.

Rakhmonov rose to power during a five-year war between pro-government forces and an Islamic opposition that left 100,000 dead and devastated the Central Asian nation of 6 million people after the 1991 Soviet collapse. The war ended in 1997.