Presidential election in Tajikistan in 1991
The 1991 presidential election in Tajikistan was the first election of its kind in the history of the independent state of Tajikistan, which only gained independence on September 9, 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union . The winner of the election on November 24, 1991 was the candidate of the Communist Party of Tajikistan , Rahmon Nabiyev .
background
In the course of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the former Soviet republics, the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic , Kachar Machkamow , was initially the formative politician of Tajikistan. He became the first president of the Tajik SSR on November 30, 1990 and remained in this position until the end of August 1991. Because of his support for the August coup in Moscow , he found himself exposed to increasing anti-communist protests in August 1991, which forced Machkamov to resign on August 31, 1991. From August 31 to September 23, 1991, the reformist Qadriddin Aslonov became the interim president of Tajikistan and during his brief presidency banned all activities of the Communist Party. Through this action, communist hardliners in Tajik politics were alarmed, who finally forced Aslonov to resign and installed the former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, Rahmon Nabiiev, as the new president. Nabiev and the Communist Party did not find sufficient popular support, however, and protests broke out by democratic , Islamic and nationalist groups, led by the Democratic Party of Tajikistan and the Islamic Party for the Rebirth of Tajikistan . Nabiev had to retire from the office of president in October 1991 due to ongoing protests, and the first presidential elections in Tajikistan were scheduled for November 24, 1991.
Candidates
The 1991 presidential election came to a head after the political upheavals and developments between the candidate of the Communist Party Rahmon Nabijew and the candidate of a broad alliance of opposition parties, Davlat Khudonazarov. Khudonazarov was nominated by the Democratic Party, but was also supported by the Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan and by labor movements. Four other candidates also stood for election on election day, but none of these candidates were given a realistic chance of winning the election.
Election campaign
The election campaign was marked by heavy accusations against the opposition candidate Khudonazarov on the part of the Communist Party. This was described as unworthy due to his origin and his family, whereby it was pointed out, among other things, that his mother was married to a man other than Khudonazarov's father when he was born. In addition, were ethnic prejudices stoked because Khudonazarov in khorugh was born and rather than by political opponents as Pamiri Tajik was called. Islamic mullahs also took part in the campaign against the opposition candidate, calling him an infidel , a heretic and inciter of hatred against the Ismailis . This type of election campaign aggravated the political situation in the country and led to an increasing geographical and religious division in the country.
Result
According to official information, Nabiev prevailed with 56.92% of the vote, and Khudonazarov received 30.07% of the vote. Significant differences between the regions of the country became clear. While Nabiev in the north of the country and in Kulob received more than 90% of the votes, Khudonazarov won a clear majority in the autonomous province of Nagorno-Badakhshan .
consequences
The opposition questioned the result and cited numerous indications of irregularities in the election. According to its own statements, the opposition assumed an election result of 40% for its candidate, but did not contest the official election result. Khudonazarov accepted his electoral defeat and was involved in the Tajik Civil War for peace and democratic development in Tajikistan in the following years . On December 2, 1991, Nabiyev was sworn in as the first elected President of Tajikistan and then tried to reverse the reform course that had previously been taken and to restore the conditions before independence.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Library of Congess (ed.): COUNTRY PROFILE: TAJIKISTAN . Washington DC January 2007.
- ↑ Dagiev, Dagikhudo .: regime transition in Central Asia: stateness, nationalism and political change in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan . Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, ISBN 1-134-60069-0 , pp. 91 ff .
- ↑ Jeffrey Hays: 1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, RAHMON NABIYEV AND EVENTS BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR IN TAJIKISTAN | Facts and details. Accessed March 30, 2020 (English).
- ^ Tajikistan 1991 - present. Accessed March 30, 2020 (English).
