DUSHANBE, October 2, Asia-Plus - On Friday, September 29, the Ministry of Justice passed a resolution recognizing Masoud Sobirov as the official leader of the Democratic Party (DPT).

On an extraordinary congress of the party convoked by Sobirov’s supporters on August 27, Davlat Sulaymonov, the head of the department for registration of public associations within the Ministry of Justice, said the ministry had studied materials submitted by Masoud Sobirov and come to a conclusion that the congress and election of Masoud Sobirov as new chairman of the party are legitimate.  “In accordance with the party rules, they collected signatures of 10 percent of members of the party to establish their faction and their congress was legitimate,” Sulaymonov stressed.

According to him, the ministry has informed the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) of its decision to recognize Masoud Sobirov as the new chairman of the DPT that allow them to field their candidate in November’s presidential election.  

Therefore a congress held by Sobirov’s supporters on September 17 and nomination of Tabarali Ziyoyev as candidate to run for November 6 presidential election were also recognized as legitimate.