Presidential elections were held in

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

on 6 November 2013. Incumbent President

Emomali Rahmon Emomali Rahmon ( ; born 5 October 1952), born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmanov, is a Tajik politician who has served as the President of Tajikistan since 1994, having previously led the country as Chairman of the Supreme Assembly (Tajikistan), Su ...

was re-elected with a reported 84% of the vote on a turnout of 86.6%. 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",Tajikistan holds presidential election

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

, 6 November 2013 publicly criticised him, while Oynihol Bobonazarova, a human rights activist generally regarded as the only real opposition candidate was prevented from running,Tajik President Rakhmon set to win another term

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 6 November 2013 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.

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. Voting centres closed at 22:00 and initial official results were due early the next day.Tajikistan holds presidential election
Al Jazeera, 6 November 2013

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. 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. 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."

Conduct

The

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

monitored the elections. 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."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)

Results

References

{{Tajikistani elections

Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

Presidential elections in Tajikistan