DUSHANBE, June 17, Asia-Plus  -- Local authorities of Gorno Badakhshan have agreed to consider problems, raised by the regional organization of the Social-Democratic Party (SDPT) for Gorno Badakhshan, in the second half-year of 2008, the SDPT leader Rahmatillo Zoirov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, activists of the SDPT regional organization in GBAO were recently invited to the regional administration, where they negotiated the socioeconomic problems Social-Democrats and their supporters were going to raise at a rally in Khorog on April 8.  We will recall that SDPT abandoned its plan to hold the rally.

“During the recent negotiations, the sides reached mutual understanding and the SDPT board also found the negotiations satisfactory,” said Zoirov.  “Representatives of the GBAO local authorities noted at the meeting that a plan of actions for the second half-year of 2008 had already been drawn and issues raised by our party will be considered during the second half-year of 2008.”  He noted that those issues concern social and economic problems facing Gorno Badakhshan, the present public order situation in the region, as well as opening of the faculty of law at Khorog State University.        

“The meeting is a good example of establishment of a constructive dialogue between the government and institutions of civil society,” the SDPT leader said.   

In the meantime, Asia-Plus has got in touch by telephone by a number of the GBAO officials to know their opinion about the meeting and its results.  Mr. Dildorbek Vafobekov, the head of the GBAO governor’s office, confirmed that such a meeting had been held.  However, he refrained from giving further details, saying that he himself had not attended the meeting.  Ziyoratsho Pirov, the head of the GBAO organizational department, who was one of participants of the meeting, also refused to comment on the meeting results, pleading being busy.