DUSHANBE, May 22, Asia-Plus  -- On Tuesday May 20, the board of the wing of the Democratic Party (DPT) run by jailed Mahmadruzi Iskandarov held meeting in Dushanbe to discuss its further activity.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Rahmatullo Valiyev, deputy leader of the Iskandarov-run wing, said that during the meeting it had been decided that the party will continue struggling for official recognition by legal means and running on a platform of constructive opposition. 

He further added that if legal means will not yield results the party will probably go underground and hold its congresses outside the country.    

We will recall that following ruling handed down by a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district on May 14, representatives of the Iskandarov-run wing handed over the party’s seal and registration certificate to Masoud Sobirov, the leader of the wing, which was officially recognized by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) as the official Democratic Party, on May 17.  

As it had been reported earlier, a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district on May 14 ruled to give the Iskandarov-run one month wing to give its property to the party’s wing led by Masoud Sobirov.  Rahmatullo Valiyev described the Shohmansour court verdict as unjust and said that they had appealed to the Supreme Court over the latest verdict.   

According to Mr. Valiyev, all regional and district organizations of the party recognize the Iskandarov-run wing.       

We will recall that the first ruling on giving DPT’s property to the Sobirov-led wing was handed down by the Shohmansour district on May 14, 2007.  The party split after Sobirov formed a separate faction in April 2006, which a MoJ recognized as the official Democratic Party in October 2006.