KHUJAND, December 12, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Representative of Tajikistan is among nine winners of the Global Editorial Cartoon Contest 2011 sponsored by the Center of International Private Enterprise (CIPE).

Farrukh Ahrorov is the second winner in the Democracy category.

The nine winners of a new cartoon contest sponsored by the Center of International Private Enterprise (CIPE) were announced on December 8.  Artists from Indonesia, Israel, and Afghanistan placed first in the categories of Democracy, Corruption, and Gender Equality, respectively.

According to information posted on CIPE’s website, the Global Editorial Cartoon Contest reinforces CIPE’s conviction that the freedom of expression is essential for democratic accountability.

“These themes have relevance to the situation in today’s world, especially in Indonesia,” said Taufan Hidayatullah, who drew the first place winning cartoon in the Democracy category. “I believe cartoon art can be a medium to convey opinions freely and critically.”

More than 1,000 cartoons from 73 countries were reviewed by a panel of distinguished judges, including Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist Pat Oliphant, who selected 10 finalists in each category.  The first, second, and third place winners were then chosen by the public through an online voting process. They received cash prizes totaling $5,000.

The themes were selected to emphasize issues of vital importance to countries around the world, said Jean Rogers, CIPE Deputy Director. “Our goal was to transcend language – and even literacy – to generate a truly global discussion.  These winners show that sometimes a picture says the most.”

According to CIPE’s website, Mr. Ahrorov said, “Even in the most totalitarian countries, the government is trying to introduce democratic institutions.  But the problem is that these institutions do not develop the society, and create mechanisms to control and impact on the citizens.  Invisible threads are used to manage these democracies, down to the basic mechanisms of such ‘democratic’ processes.”

Farrukh Ahrorov said in an interview with Asia-Plus that many people from Tajikistan and other countries had written him, asking how they could participate in voting process.  “Some of them just expressed solidarity and support of friends was felt always,” noted Ahrorov, “As far as Internet users in Tajikistan are concerned, many of them were vary active during the voting process.”  “Internet users from Tajikistan, however, scarcely had considerable influence on the contest results, because for the majority citizens of Tajikistan access to Internet remains limited because of high prices and electricity shortages.”