DUSHANBE, June 7, Asia-Plus  -- On Friday June 6, a meeting, staged by IFES Tajikistan, considered amendments worked out by Tajikistan’s Central Commission for elections and Referenda (CCER) to the RT Constitutional Law “On Elections to the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan.”

The meeting, organized as part of the Professional Support for Election Law Reform in Tajikistan Project, brought together representatives of the CCER, political parties and public associations to discuss amendments proposed by the CCER to the parliamentary election law.  

Speaking at the meeting, Muhibullo Dodojonov, an official with the CCER, said that they, in particular, suggest that requirement under which only citizens who have lived in Tajikistan over the past five years shall be eligible to be elected to the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) should be removed.   

According to him, the CCER also proposes that registration fee that is paid by candidates should be determined at specific amounts but not at the number of minimum monthly wage. 

The parliamentary election code requires candidates to pay a registration fee in an amount equivalent to 200 minimum monthly wages.  

Dodojonov added that those funds should be transferred not to the national budget but to the CCER’s budget.   

“Besides, we propose to cancel the requirement of collection of signatures in support of candidates,” said the CCER official.  “If this requirement remains intact, we suggest that the minimum number of the forged signatures should be stated not in percentage (3%) but in specific figures (for example, 15 signatures),” Dodojonov said.  

He noted that another principle change proposed to the parliamentary election law is to abolish the requirement of the minimum number of voters.  “On the one hand, it is stated that participation in voting process is free and voluntary, while on the other hand, at least 50 percent of registered voters must cast ballots for the parliamentary election to be valid,” said Dodojonov.  “It is undemocratic; let those who want cast ballots and the requirement of the minimum number of voters should be abolished.”  

He noted that the CCER will submit its proposals on proposals for consideration to the working commission that will start its work within the next coming days.  

In the meantime, representative of the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT), Muhammadali Hait, suggested that the registration fee requirement should be also removed from the parliamentary election law.  “If agree that the majority of contenders for parliamentary seats are representatives of intelligentsia, this requirement prevents many of them from running in parliamentary elections,” Mr. Hait said.  

Since 1996, IFES has assisted Tajikistan’s educators to develop a program to educate active citizens, conducted survey research, and advised political parties and the election commission on ways to strengthen the country’s electoral processes.