DUSHANBE, September 27, Asia-Plus - Arguments in a joint statement released by the Social-Democratic (SDPT) and Democratic (DPT) parties have populist character and are aimed at misleading and misinforming, first of all, representatives from international organizations, which will monitor the election, media and citizens, who find difficulty in understanding official and unofficial interpretations of Tajikistan’s election legislation, a statement by Mirzoali Boltuyev, the head of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER), released in response to the joint statement the opposition parties.  

In his statement, Boltuyev stressed that leaders of the SDPT and DPT ought to familiarize themselves with requirements of Article 19 of the RT Constitutional Law “On Election of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan”, which concerns the right of appealing decisions of the CCER within 10 days after they are adopted.  

The statement also claims that during the last several years leaders of these two parties have been engaged in populism, unfoundedly accusing representatives from all branches of power of all “conceivable and inconceivable sins.” 

In the meantime, Abdurrahmon Abdumannonov, the first deputy chairman of the Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting, said in his interview with Asia-Plus that under agreement between their committee and the CCER press service Tajik national TV had covered congresses of those parties that had nominated their candidates for president.   However, Abdumannonov found difficulty in answering question why did national TV reported on a congress of the Islamic Revival Party, which had not fielded its candidate in the election.