DUSHANBE, December 4, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The Agrarian Party (APT) is ready for the upcoming parliamentary elections and hopes to win as many as possible seats in the parliament, the APT leader Amir Qaraqulov announced at a roundtable in Dushanbe on December 3.

The meeting was organized by the Journalist Community Organization of Tajikistan.

According to Qaraqulov, they count mainly on support of the rural population.  “Some 75 percent of the country’s population lives in rural areas,” he noted.

Qaraqulov added that his party was ready to nominate its candidates in all single-mandate constituencies and support unaffiliated candidates.

The APT leader stated that the party’s program proposed specific steps to enhance the country’s agrarian sector.

He noted that it had been very difficult for the APT to collect money for participation in the 2010 parliamentary elections.  “However, we have managed to solve this issue and found sponsors for participation in the parliamentary elections,” said Qaraqulov, “Farming units, ordinary citizens and businesspeople have offered us their assistance.”

The Agrarian Party was registered with the Ministry of Justice in November 2005.  The registration of the Agrarian Party has brought to eight the number of officially registered political parties in Tajikistan.

Some experts consider that the Agrarian Party and the Party of Economic Reforms, which was also founded in 2005, are being government-backed.