DUSHANBE, March 28, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has nominated the Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov to run in Dushanbe’s parliamentary by-election (special election) due on May 15 this year.

Usmon Solehov, head of the PDP public relations department, told Asia-Plus Monday afternoon that the PDP conference that took place in Dushanbe on March 27 nominated Amirqul Azimov as its candidate for the by-election.  “In the near future, our party will apply to the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda for registration of our candidate,” he said.

Lieutenant-General Amirqul Azimov, 63, is a professional lawyer; he is now Secretary of the Security Council of Tajikistan.  He had previously worked for many years with the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor-General’s Office.

We will recall that Tolibshoh Saidzoda, an editor of the Dushanbe independent weekly, Millat , has applied to the electoral commission of Dushanbe’s constituency # 4 for registering him as a candidate for parliamentary by-election scheduled for May 15.  Mr. Saidzoda says he is determined to run in the by-election for a seat in the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber parliament) and “I hope my election program will meet with support of voters.”

Besides, the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) nominated its candidate for the upcoming parliamentary by-election.  The IRP political council that met on March 24 nominated Saidibrohim Nazar to run in the Dushanbe by-election.

Earlier, two other parties – People’s Democratic and Agrarian parties – have also expressed readiness to participate in the Dushanbe by-election.

In the meantime, the Party of Economic Reforms as well as the Democratic and Socialist parties said they would not participate in the forthcoming by-election, while the Communist Party has not yet decided whether it will participate in the by-election or not.

We will recall that the by-election will be called following appointment of Shermuhammad Shohiyon who formerly represented this constituency in the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) as the CCER chairman.

40,500 somoni have been allocated from the national budget for holding the by-election in Dushanbe’s constituency # 4.  79 polling stations will be set up in this constituency that numbers some 100,000 voters.