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Electoral/Political Party Reform: General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan

Implementations

Electoral/Political Party Reform – 1997

The GA mentioned three electoral reforms: 1) lifting the ban on UTO political parties, 2) the creation of a new upper-house of Parliament and 3) nationwide elections to the new Parliament. In 1997 the CNR debated these changes to the constitution.¹

“Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation in Tajikistan,” United Nations (S/1997/859), November 5, 1997.

Electoral/Political Party Reform – 1998

The ban on religious parties was not lifted in 1998 and no elections were held. The CNR continued to debate these changes to the constitution.²

“Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation in Tajikistan,” United Nations (S/1998/1029), November 3, 1998.

Electoral/Political Party Reform – 1999

The electoral reforms specified in the accord were fully implemented (de jure). In August 1999, the Supreme Court lifted the ban on UTO member parties that had been in effect since 1993.³ In June 1999, Tajikistan’s parliament, the Majlisi Oli, adopted the amendments to the constitution prepared by the CNR.⁴ In September 1999, the constitutional amendments were adopted through a public referendum and passed with 72 percent of the vote.⁵

Rashid Abdullo, (2001). “Implementation of the 1997 General Agreement: Success, Dilemmas, and Challenges,” in Politics of Compromise: the Tajikistan Peace Process, eds. K. Abdullaev and C. Barnes (London: Conciliation Resources, 2001), Accord 10: 48—53.
Rahmatillo Zoir and Scott Newton, “Constitutional and Legislative Reform,” in Politics of Compromise: the Tajikistan Peace Process, eds. K. Abdullaev and C. Barnes, (London: Conciliation Resources, 2001), Accord 10:54-59.
“Chronology,” in Politics of Compromise: the Tajikistan Peace Process, eds. K. Abdullaev and C. Barnes (London: Conciliation Resources, 2001), Accord 10: 82-87.

Electoral/Political Party Reform – 2000

In February and March of 2000 parliamentary elections were held on a multi-party basis for the first time in Tajikistan, although they were highly irregular. The number of ballots cast equaled 93 percent of the population and 68 percent of precincts had allowed proxy voting. The president’s party won 33 seats and the Islamic Revival party won 2 seats.⁶

“Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation in Tajikistan,” United Nations (S/2000/214), March 14, 2000.