General election in Tajikistan 2010
The 2010 parliamentary election in Tajikistan was held on February 28, 2010 with a runoff on March 14, 2010. After the end of the five-year legislative period following the parliamentary elections in Tajikistan in 2005 , the 63 seats in the Assembly of Representatives were redistributed.
Electoral system
Compared to the previous election, no significant changes had been made to the voting system. The 63 MPs in the House of Representatives, a chamber of the Tajikistan's Supreme Assembly in the bicameral system of the Republic of Tajikistan , are elected every five years. The electoral system is a combination of majority voting and proportional representation. 41 MPs are elected in the country's 41 electoral districts on the principle of majority voting. If no candidate achieves the necessary absolute majority in the first ballot , there will be a runoff between the two best-placed candidates after the first ballot. The remaining 22 mandates are awarded via the electoral lists of the registered parties according to the principle of proportional representation. A party must collect at least 5% of the votes cast in order to be able to send members to the House of Representatives via the party list. Eligible to vote are Tajik citizens who were at least 18 years old at the time of the election.
background
The history of the independent state of Tajikistan is significantly shaped by the Tajik civil war , which lasted from 1992 to 1997, and the subsequent stabilization phase under President Emomalij Rahmon and his People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan . Rahmon succeeded in securing peace in Tajikistan in the years after the end of the war, which earned him support from the population. At the same time, authoritarian structures were formed and power was concentrated in the hands of long-time President Rahmon. The parliamentary elections in Tajikistan in 2000 and 2005 were described by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as neither fair nor free and fell short of democratic standards and requirements. Before the parliamentary elections in 2010, President Rahmon announced that the upcoming election would be conducted transparently and in accordance with the Tajik constitution. This announcement has been reiterated and reiterated by the government.
Parties and candidates
Tajikistan is officially a multi-party system , although it is dominated by the People's Democratic Party. After the parliamentary elections in 2005, the People's Democratic Party, the Communist Party of Tajikistan and the Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan entered the Assembly of Representatives with an absolute majority of 52 seats . Before the 2010 election, a total of eight parties were officially registered. In addition to the People's Democratic Party, the Economic Reform Party and the Agrarian Party of Tajikistan openly supported the president and his policies. The Socialist Party of Tajikistan and the Communist Party of Tajikistan were generally loyal to the president, but in individual cases criticized his course. The liberal Democratic Party of Tajikistan, the Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan and the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan were viewed as oppositional. The registration of candidates was possible via the registered parties in the country, but it was also possible for independent candidates to run if they could show the signatures of 500 supporters. A major hurdle for independent candidates and small party candidates was the deposit of 7,000 somoni to register a candidacy. These were paid back after the election if the candidate entered the representative assembly or if his party was able to collect more than 5% of the votes cast nationwide. This financial risk had a significant deterrent effect on many candidates. As a consequence, only the People's Democratic Party was able to draw up a complete electoral list and nominate a candidate in almost all constituencies.
Election campaign
An election campaign took place in the run-up to the election, but it was of low intensity and public visibility. The most important element of the election campaign were events organized by the Central Election Commission or its local branches to present the candidates. There were also small events organized by parties and candidates. Election posters , leaflets and newspaper advertisements were also used in the election campaign, but had no nationwide impact due to their low distribution. Television and radio in Tajikistan are shaped by state channels that reported largely government-loyal to the government and did not depict any political debates. In the field of print products there was a greater variety of opinions and offers, but due to the limited distribution of newspapers to urban regions and individual population groups, they were only suitable for election campaign purposes to a limited extent.
Result
The People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan was able to clearly defend its absolute majority, meaning that there were no significant political changes as a result of the election. The turnout was given as 90.84%, a total of 3,289,377 votes were cast. A runoff election was necessary in one constituency, which was won on March 14 by the candidate of the People's Democratic Party. In the end, five parties were represented in the newly composed parliament of Tajikistan:
| Political party | Majority seats | Proportional representation | Total seats | Comparison 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan | 39 | 16 | 55 | +3 |
| Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan | 0 | 2 | 2 | ± 0 |
| Communist Party of Tajikistan | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 |
| Economic reform party | 1 | 1 | 2 | +2 |
| Agrarian Party of Tajikistan | 1 | 1 | 2 | +2 |
| Independent / Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 |
| total | 41 | 22nd | 63 | ± 0 |
rating
The election was accompanied by national and international observers, including an OSCE observer mission. Following the election, the latter came to a similar verdict as in the previous elections in Tajikistan. In their final report, the OSCE observers concluded that the election clearly fell short of democratic requirements and standards. In particular, they criticized the lack of political pluralism and freedom of expression , the one-sided reporting in the major state media and the insufficient transparency and professionalism in the implementation of the election, which made numerous irregularities possible. These irregularities included numerous observed cases of representative elections in which one person entitled to vote exercises the right to vote of another person entitled to vote and can thus vote several times. This practice is not covered by Tajik suffrage, but could not be effectively combated due to the poor quality of the electoral roll and the organizational grievances in the polling stations. The election was also criticized by the country's most important opposition party, the Islamic Rebirth Party. This had nothing to do with democracy , said Khikmatullo Saifullozoda from the Islamic opposition party. In the People's Democratic Party, however, the election was rated positively. Accordingly, there were individual irregularities in the election, but they would not affect the will of the Tajik people. The election was also praised by observers from Russia , the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States .
Individual evidence
- ↑ IPU PARLINE database: TAJIKISTAN (Majlisi namoyandogon), Electoral system. Accessed May 19, 2020 .
- ^ A b Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw July 6, 2010, p. 5-6 .
- ^ Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw July 6, 2010, p. 11-13 .
- ^ Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw July 6, 2010, p. 13-16 .
- ↑ IPU PARLINE database: TAJIKISTAN (Majlisi namoyandogon), ELECTIONS IN 2010. Accessed on May 20, 2020 .
- ^ Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw July 6, 2010, p. 4-5 .
- ^ Tajik elections 'marred by fraud' . March 1, 2010 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed May 21, 2020]).
- ^ Tajik ruling party gains 53 of 63 seats in parliament - People's Daily Online. Retrieved May 21, 2020 .
