General election in Tajikistan 2015

The 2015 parliamentary elections in Tajikistan took place on March 1, 2015 . The 63 members of the House of Representatives of the political bicameral system of the Republic of Tajikistan were elected .

Electoral system

The 63 MPs in the House of Representatives are elected every five years. The electoral system is a combination of majority and proportional representation. 41 MPs are elected in the various constituencies according to 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 lists of the parties according to the principle of proportional representation. A party must collect at least 5% of the votes 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.

At the same time as the parliamentary elections, local and regional elections were also held.

background

On December 5, 2014, Parliament announced March 1, 2015 as election day. The previous parliamentary election took place on February 28, 2010 and resulted in a clear majority for the country's dominant political party, the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan under long-time President Emomalij Rahmon , which won 55 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives. Between 2010 and 2015, on instructions from President Rahmon, stricter laws to control the media and non-governmental organizations were passed, which made the work of opposition groups in Tajikistan even more difficult. The Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan as the most important opposition party was severely restricted in its party work and finally banned after the 2015 parliamentary election. Overall, the election took place under the sign of the increasingly authoritarian rule of long-term President Rahmon, so that a clear victory for the People's Democratic Party was expected in the parliamentary election.

Parties

In addition to the People's Democratic Party, various other parties and alliances competed, but in most cases they only won a small percentage of the votes. With the Communist Party of Tajikistan , the country's oldest political party also ran again in the election and was sometimes critical of the incumbent president. The Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan also ran candidates for the election, but was confronted with massive restrictions in the election campaign. The same was true of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan . With the Agrarian Party and the Economic Reform Party, two pro-government parties also competed.

Result

The parliamentary elections again resulted in a clear majority for the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan under the leadership of President Rahmon. The voter turnout was given as 87.7%.

Political party	Majority seats	Proportional representation	Total seats	Comparison 2010
People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan	35	16	51	−4
Agrarian Party of Tajikistan	2	3	5	+3
Economic reform party	1	2	3	+1
Socialist party	1	1	2	+2
Communist Party of Tajikistan	2	0	2	± 0

The Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan and the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan failed to win seats in the House of Representatives.

rating

Observer Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe rated the election as neither free nor fair. The result of the election was also questioned in Tajikistan. The leader of the Communist Party spoke of a "political farce" in connection with the parliamentary elections. The Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan also expressed clear criticism of the opaque electoral system and the disadvantage of the party. Observers reported, among other things, group elections and the opening of ballot boxes and pressure on the voters through volunteer election workers. Despite these grave grievances, Rahmon succeeded in consolidating his power and weakening opposition parties with the 2013 presidential election in Tajikistan and the 2015 parliamentary election.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IPU PARLINE database: TAJIKISTAN (Majlisi namoyandogon), Electoral system. Accessed March 18, 2020 . 
2. ↑ International Foundation for Electoral Systems (ed.): Elections in Tajikistan 2015 Parliamentary Elections Frequently Asked Questions . Washington DC February 2015.
3. ↑ IPU PARLINE database: TAJIKISTAN (Majlisi namoyandogon), Last elections. Retrieved March 18, 2020 . 
4. ^ OSCE To Monitor Tajik Parliamentary Elections. Retrieved March 18, 2020 (English). 
5. ↑ Parliamentary Elections, March 1, 2015 | OSCE. Retrieved March 18, 2020 . 
6. ^ Tajikistan's Ruling Party Wins Election Decried As 'Farce'. Retrieved March 18, 2020 (English).