DUSHANBE, August 29, Asia-Plus -- A split in ranks of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) is a normal and natural process, Sayfullo Safarov, deputy director of Tajikistan’s Center for Strategic Studies, said.  

“This division is not any supernatural event, and everything is going on in accordance with laws of intra-party development,” said Mr. Safarov, “Thus, Russian Social Democrats at their time were divided into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.”   

“The point is to what extent actions of the initiative group to form a faction within the DPT are legitimate,” the Asia-Plus interlocutor said.  However, Mr. Safarov refrained from commenting on this situation, noting that it was internal affair of the Democratic Party.   At the same time, Sayfullo Safarov does not link the DPT leadership crisis and the split within the DPT ranks to the upcoming presidential election in the country.  

In the meantime some local experts note that some political parties are in disarray as the presidential election nears.  The major opposition political parties have postponed naming their presidential candidates until their conventions in September.