More than 20 former members of the banned Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRP) have applied for joining the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDP), Usmon Soleh, the head of the PDP public relations department, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

“The PDP organizations in the regions are currently considering the applications of the former IRP members,” Soleh noted.  

According to him, Abdufattoh Abdukholiqov, the former head of the IRP organization in Vose district of Khatlon province, was admitted to the People’s Democratic Party at the end of last year.

“Abdukholiqov left the Islamic Revival Party in August 2015, a month before an armed mutiny launched by former deputy defense minister Nazarzoda,” Soleh said.   

Founded in 1994, the People’s Democratic Party is the largest political party in Tajikistan, boasting more than 480,000 registered members.  President Emomali Rahmon is chairman of the party.

At the legislative elections, February 27 and March 13, 2005, the party won 74% of the popular vote and 52 out of 63 seats (74 percent of the popular vote).  This was an increase from the 2000 elections, in which they won 64.9% of the vote and 38 seats.  At the legislative elections, February 28, 2010, the party won 71.69% of the popular vote and 45 out of 63 seats.  At the last legislative election, March 1, 2015, the PDP won 65.4 percent of the vote and 51 out of 63 seats.

Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan was the only Islamic party officially registered in former Soviet Central Asia.  The IRP was registered on December 4, 1991.  It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999.  According to some sources, the IRP had some 40,000 members.

Since 1999, the party had reportedly been the second-largest party in Tajikistan after the ruling People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan.

In the 2005 and 2010 parliamentary elections, the IRP won two out of 63 seats in the parliament, but the party suffered a crushing defeat in Tajikistan's March 1, 2015 vote, failing to clear the 5 percent threshold needed to win parliament seats.

The Tajik Justice Ministry banned the Islamic Revival Party in late August 2015 and gave it 10 days to halt all activities.  According to a statement issued by the ministry on August 28, 2015, the Islamic Revival Party could not legally continue its activities because the Justice Ministry said the party did not have enough members to qualify as an officially registered party.  The ministry said that all the party's branches in 58 cities and districts across Tajikistan have been closed.

Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned the Islamic Revival Party as terrorist group on September 29, 2015 on the basis of a suit filed by the Prosecutor-General’s Office.  The Supreme Court ruled that the IRP should be included on a blacklist of extremist and terrorist organizations.  The verdict forces the closure of the IRP’s official newspaper Najot and bans the distribution of any video, audio, or printed materials related to the party’s activities.