DUSHANBE, May 3, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Ballot papers for a May 15 by-election have been already printed and they will be handed over to the district electoral commission the day after tomorrow, Muhibullo Dadajonov, an official with the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER), told Asia-Plus today.

According to him, nearly 20,000 somoni have been spent for printing the ballot papers.  “Candidates for the by-election are currently conducting meetings with voters,” said Dadajonov, “Candidates have the right to hold meetings with voters till May 14.”  

The May 15 by-election for Dushanbe''s Sino district is to fill a seat in the lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament that fell vacant in March when incumbent Shermahmad Shohiyon was appointed to head CCER.

We will recall that four candidates are competing to fill the Majlisi Namoyandagon seat vacated by Shohiyon -- Amirqul Azimov nominated by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDPT), Muzaffar Mirzoyev nominated by the Agrarian Party (APT) and two self-propelled candidates, including Tolibshoh Saidzoda, editor-in-chief of the Dushanbe weekly Millat (Nation), and Safarbek Mannonov, deputy director of the National Medical Center.

The Islamic Revival Party (IRP) has withdrawn its candidate for the by-election because its representatives have not been included in lower-level commissions at polling stations.

Dushanbe’s constituency # 4 reportedly numbers some 70,000 voters and 48 polling stations are expected to be set up in the constituency.

The Majlisi Namoyandagon -- the lower chamber of parliament -- consists of 63 deputies elected for a five-year term.  Twenty-two seats are divided among parties that gain more than 5 percent of the vote, and the remaining 41 deputies are elected from single-mandate constituencies.