DUSHANBE, January 13, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Criticism from the Tajik chief prosecutor in activity of the anticorruption agency is evidence of the inter-agency conflict of interest, Abdughani Mamadazimov, head of the National Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

As it had been reported earlier, speaking to reporters in Dushanbe on January 13, the Prosecutor General Bobojon Bobokhonov criticized activity of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption and noted that the anticorruption agency has not yet brought to court any serious corruption-related case.

According to Mamadazimov, a hidden rivalry has existed between these entities since the first days of functioning of the anticorruption agency as some duties of the prosecutor-general’s office folded into the anticorruption agency.

We will recall that the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption, established in January 2007, now performs functions previously carried out by the State Financial Control Committee, Main Tax Police Directorate, Directorate for Combating Corruption, and other agencies.

The expert further added that it could not be ruled out that the rivalry between the two entities was also connected with possible staff changes that might be introduced at a government session scheduled for January 15.

“In other words, criticism from the chief prosecutor in the anticorruption agency ahead of the government session may mean that there is the hidden rivalry between these two state entities for the lead in fight against corruption,” the political scientist said.