QURGHON TEPPA, April 15, Asia-Plus  -- A project for supporting development of political parties was presented in Qurghon Teppa, the capital of Khatlon province yesterday.   

The project is being implemented by NGO Rushd under financial support of the European Union and the British Embassy in Dushanbe. 

Speaking in an interview with Asia-plus, the Rushd head Yusuf Mahmadov said that the objective of the project is to prepare observers fro political parties for monitoring elections.

According to him, they are conducting three-day seminars and “analysis of situation in political parties’ organizations in Khatlon will be conducted during three months.”  “The analysis is covering six categories of people, including former observers, members of political parties, and members of electoral commissions,” said Mahmadov.  “The results will be published in brochures in three languages.”   

Speaking at a presentation ceremony, Nazrullo Barfiyev, representative from the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER), noted that the project will allow solving a number of problems and removing some misunderstandings that occur during elections.  “Political parties should participate actively in elections; however, the previous elections have shown that observers from political parties are not quite aware of their rights, and therefore they could not show their worth properly.”   

In the meantime, Qalandar Sadruddinov, the head of the regional organization of the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT) for Khatlon, noted that “the fate of the previous election had been decided beforehand and therefore observers had not been able to participate actively.”