DUSHANBE, June 2, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The Supreme Court has refused an appeal by the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT) against the decision of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER).

By ruling handed down on June1 the Supreme Court upheld verdicts of lower courts over the CCER decision refusing application by the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT) for replacement of Muhammadsharif Himmatzoda in the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament), whose powers were terminated in April ahead of schedule, by another party member.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Hikmatullo Sayfullozoda, a spokesman for the IRPT, said the Supreme Court’s ruling was unfair and “handed down under pressure of authorities.”

In the meantime, Justice Tohir Kabirov noted that if the IRPT did not agree with the ruling it might refer to appeals court.

We will recall that the CCER on May 25 refused an application by the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT) for replacement of Muhammadsharif Himmatzoda in the Majlisi Namoyandagon, whose powers were terminated in April ahead of schedule, by another party member.  The CCER official Muhibullo Dodojonov noted that time that in accordance with the legislation, another member of the IRPT cannot replace Muhammadsharif Himmatzoda in the parliament today because only some eight months remain till the next parliamentary elections.  Under the law, the parliament composition cannot be changed less then one year before the next parliamentary elections, he said.

Muhammadsharif Himmatzoda was elected to the Majlisi Namoyandagon through the IRPT list.  The IRPT has two seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon – Muhiddin Kabiri and Muhammadsharif Himmatzoda; both of them came to the parliament from the party list.

Of 63 seats in the Majlisi Namoyandagon, 22 seats come from party lists. The remainder is elected in first-past-the-post races.  The Islamic Revival Party had a party list of only 15 candidates for the 2005 parliamentary elections, while 20 of the party’s representatives ran individual constituencies.