Tajikistan Election: President Rahmon on Course for Fifth Term
However, the presidential poll may attract more attention this time after recent elections in two other ex-Soviet republics - Belarus and Kyrgyzstan - sparked protests.
Rahmon, 68, has run the Persian-speaking nation of 9.5 million people since 1992, a period including a civil war. He has gradually strengthened his grip and a 2016 constitutional reform removed a limit on the number of terms he could serve.
Polling stations opened with the national anthem played through loudspeakers, followed by a selection of patriotic songs. Staff checked voters’ temperature on entry and wore both face masks and shields, according to Reuters.
At one polling station shown in a state television news report, staff could be seen wearing full hazmat suits. According to the central election commission, 44.6% of voters had already cast their ballots by noon.
Many in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation expect Rahmon, who has nine children, to push for his son Rustam Emomali to succeed him. Emomali is both mayor of the capital city, Dushanbe, and speaker of the upper house of parliament.
All four competitors are members of the docile lower house of parliament and have avoided criticizing Rahmon, whose official title is “Founder of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation.”
Though they say they are in the race to win, their campaign staff privately admit they have little chance of garnering any significant vote count.
OPPOSITION BOYCOTT
The biggest remaining opposition force, the Social Democratic party, is boycotting the election in protest at laws which it says tilt the playing field to ensure the dominance of Rahmon’s People’s Democratic Party.
Though Tajikistan’s economy has been growing 6% or more for the last decade, the coronavirus pandemic has taken the edge off that, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development predicting a 1.0% contraction this year, the first in 23 years.
Tajikistan has reported 10,180 COVID-19 cases with 79 deaths and chose not to introduce a hard lockdown like some neighbors.
