2013 Tajik presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Tajikistan on 6 November 2013.[1] Incumbent President Emomali Rahmon was re-elected with a reported 84% of the vote on a turnout of 86.6%.[2]
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| Turnout | 86.64% | ||||||||||||||||
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Tajikistan portal |
In power since 1992, Rahmon was seeking a new term in office, and was widely expected to be re-elected. None of his five opponents, who were "virtual unknowns even inside the country",[3] publicly criticised him, while Oynihol Bobonazarova, a human rights activist generally regarded as the only real opposition candidate was prevented from running,[4] having narrowly failed to obtain sufficient signatures to register as a candidate. Her Islamic Revival Party blamed local authorities for harassing party activists who were seeking to collect signatures.[3]
Electoral system
The President was elected for a seven-year term, with a 50% turnout needed to validate the result. Potential candidates needed to collect 210,000 signatures in order to participate.[5]
Voting centres closed at 22:00 and initial official results were due early the next day.[6]
Campaign
Oynihol Bobonazarova of the Islamic Revival Party withdrew her candidacy on 11 October 2013 after collecting only 202,000 of the 210,000 required.[7] The party claimed this was due to harassment from local authorities during the signature campaign and that it would not take part in the election.[6]
The Social Democratic Party also boycotted the election due to what it said were "violations of the constitution, organised falsifications and a lack of democracy and transparency."[6]
Conduct
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitored the elections.[6] It reported "significant shortcomings" in the conduct of the poll, and criticised "restrictive candidate-registration requirements" including an "unreasonably large number of signatures potential candidates must gather to qualify", which it considered "resulted in a lack of pluralism and genuine choice."[8]
Results
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emomali Rahmon | People's Democratic Party | 3,023,754 | 83.92 | |
| Ismoil Talbakov | Communist Party | 181,675 | 5.04 | |
| Talibek Buhariyev | Agrarian Party | 166,224 | 4.61 | |
| Olimzhon Boboyev | Party of Economic Reforms | 140,733 | 3.91 | |
| Abduhalim Ghafforov | Socialist Party | 54,148 | 1.50 | |
| Saidjafar Ismanov | Democratic Party | 36,573 | 1.02 | |
| Total | 3,603,107 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 3,603,107 | 98.98 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 36,949 | 1.02 | ||
| Total votes | 3,640,056 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 4,201,156 | 86.64 | ||
| Source: IFES | ||||
References
- "Volatile Tajikistan sets presidential election for November 6" Reuters, 30 August 2013
- Tajik strongman wins over 83pc in 'no choice' poll The Nation, 8 November 2013
- Tajikistan holds presidential election Al Jazeera, 6 November 2013
- Tajik President Rakhmon set to win another term BBC News, 6 November 2013
- Presidential candidate must collect 210 thousand signatures Asia Plus, 2 September 2013
- Tajikistan holds presidential election Al Jazeera, 6 November 2013
- "Zayirov Calls on His Supporters to Rally around Aynihal Babanazarova". Asia-Plus. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe: Tajikistan presidential election peaceful, but lacking in pluralism and genuine choice, international observers say (Retrieved 8 November 2013)