DUSHANBE, May 16, 211, Asia-Plus  -- The People’s Democratic party (PDP) candidate, Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov, has won the by-election in Dushanbe’s constituency # 4, receiving 68.8 percent of votes, Abdullo Habibov, head of the district electoral commission, told Asia-Plus on Monday.

According to him, voter turnout in the by-election that took place on May 15 was recorded at 81 percent.  “The constituency numbers 68,266 voters and 55,907 of them participated in the voting process,” Habibov said.

We will recall that along with Amirqul Azimov three other candidates participated in the by-election: Muzaffar Mirzoyev nominated by the Agrarian Party (APT); and two self-propelled candidates, including Tolibshoh Saidzoda, editor-in-chief of the Dushanbe weekly Millat (Nation), and Safarbek Mannonov, deputy director of the National Medical Center.

“The Millat editor Tojlibshoh Saidzoda received 15.99 percent of votes, the APT candidate gained 7.59 percent of votes, and Safarbek Mannonov received 9.9 percent of votes,” said the district electoral commission head, “Besides, 1,157 voters voted against all the candidates and there were 857 spoilt ballot papers.”

The May 15 by-election for Dushanbe''s Sino district is to fill a seat in the lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament that fell vacant in March when incumbent Shermahmad Shohiyon was appointed to head the Central Commission for Elections and referenda (CCER).

The Majlisi Namoyandagon -- the lower chamber of parliament -- consists of 63 deputies elected for a five-year term.  Twenty-two seats are divided among parties that gain more than 5 percent of the vote, and the remaining 41 deputies are elected from single-mandate constituencies.