Business as Usual in Tajik Presidential Polls

With the departure of the sole opposition candidate, this week’s presidential election in Tajikistan is already set on a predictable course – victory for the incumbent, Imomali Rahmon, amid widespread voter apathy and disappointment among the minority who were hoping for a real alternative.

Oinikhol Bobonazarova, who was nominated by the Coalition of Reformist Forces, a bloc made up of the Islamic Rebirth Party, the Social Democrats and others, dropped out of the race last month after failing to submit application papers to the election authority in time. (For more, see Tajik Opposition's Election Plans Dashed.)

The coalition mistakenly believed it had gathered insufficient signatures for Bobonazarova’s application to be eligible, and its request to submit them after the October 11 deadline was rejected.

With Bobonazarova out of the race, President Rahmonov – in power since 1992 – is left without a strong challenge to his attempt to seek a fourth term. Of the five other candidates, three represent pro-Rahmonov groups – Olim Boboev, head of the Party of Economic Reforms; Ahmadbek Bukhoriev of the Agrarian Party, and Democratic Party leader Saidjafar Ismonov. The other two, Abduhalim Ghafforov of the Socialist Party and Ismoil Talbakov from the Communist Party, are not seen as contenders, either.

Unused to any hint of a real contest, since the opposition boycotted voting during the last presidential election, the authorities seem to have been apprehensive about the prospect of Bobonazarova running.

In the months leading up to the election, the Coalition of Reformist forces said its members and supporters were intimidated. Two other politicians were sidelined completely. Former industry minister Zayd Saidov, a, was arrested in May, a month after setting up a political party called New Tajikistan. Umarali Quvvatov, who said he wanted to run for the presidency, was arrested in Dubai last December at the request of the Tajik authorities.

A teacher in the capital Dushanbe who asked not to be named told IWPR that he and his colleagues were ordered by the school administration to collect signatures for pro-government candidates.

“It’s a good thing Bobonazarova failed to register, otherwise we would have had a tough time,” the teacher said.

Bobonazarova’s exit from the race has only deepened the sense of disillusionment among those voters, mostly in Dushanbe, who were planning to back her.

A taxi driver in the city said the presence of other candidates was of no important.

“In my view, the other candidates are just a formality to create the illusion of free elections,” he said.

A shop assistant who gave her name as Anora told IWPR she intended to cross out the names of all pro-government candidates when she went to vote.

“As a woman, I wanted to support Bobonazarova, but she didn’t get registered,” Anora said.

However, the departure of the only opposition candidate went unnoticed by many voters outside the capital, who were not aware that anyone other than President Rahmon was standing.

Abdumannon, a college student from Khujand, Tajikistan’s second-largest city located in the north, said he would be casting his vote for the president.

“I haven’t even heard of there being other candidates,” he said.

Another Khujand resident, Asadullo, said he knew the names of the other five but had not seen them doing any campaigning.

Hamida, from the southern Khatlon region, was surprised to be asked who she was going to vote for.

“Are there any other candidates? I didn’t know,” she said.

The majority of voters seem resigned to the fact that they are powerless to change anything in the country.

“I’m not going to vote,” said Dushanbe resident Zaynab. “I don’t want to. I don’t see any point in voting. Those at the top have already decided everything for us.”

Rustam Majidov is an IWPR-trained journalist in Tajikistan.