DUSHANBE, May 24, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- The Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) has accepted an application by an independent candidate Tolibshoh Saidzoda for consideration.

“In his application, Tolibshoh Saidzoda refuses to accept the official results of a May 15 by-election, citing fraud during the voting process, the source at CCER said.

According to him, a special commission has been set up to consider Saidzoda’s application.  The commission is headed by the CCER deputy chairman Karomatullo Kholiqov and its members include Muhibullo Dadajonov, an official with CCER, and Akbarali Sattorov, member of CCER also chairman of Tajik Journalists’ Union.

“The commission will study the application as well as critical articles published in media outlets within a week,” the source said.  

The self-propelled candidate Tolibshoh Saidzoda refuses to accept the official results of the parliamentary by-election that was held in Dushanbe’s constituency # 4 (Sino district) on May 15, citing fraud during the voting process.

Speaking at a news conference in Dushanbe, Tolibshoh Saidzoda, who is editor-in-chef of the Dushanbe independent weekly Millat (Nation), noted on May 16 that the by-election must be deemed invalid because of insufficient voter turnout.  According to him, the turnout was around 20 percent.  “Our observers recorded all and we can prove this,” Saidzoda said.

He considers that the voting process was marred by numerous falsifications.  “We have recorded all instances of violation of the election law and we plan to submit them for consideration to the CCER,” Saidzoda added.

We will recall that the head of the district electoral commission Abdullo Habibov told Asia-Plus on May 16 that the People’s Democratic party (PDP) candidate, Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov, has won the by-election in Dushanbe’s constituency # 4, receiving 68.8 percent of votes.  According to him, voter turnout in the by-election that took place on May 15 was recorded at 81 percent.  “The constituency numbers 68,266 voters and 55,907 of them participated in the voting process,” Habibov said.

Along with Amirqul Azimov three other candidates participated in the by-election: Muzaffar Mirzoyev nominated by the Agrarian Party (APT); and two self-propelled candidates, including the Millat editor Tolibshoh Saidzoda and Safarbek Mannonov, deputy director of the National Medical Center.

“The Millat editor Tojlibshoh Saidzoda received 15.99 percent of votes, the APT candidate gained 7.59 percent of votes, and Safarbek Mannonov received 9.9 percent of votes,” said the district electoral commission head, “Besides, 1,157 voters voted against all the candidates and there were 857 spoilt ballot papers.”

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 the Central Commission for Elections and referenda (CCER).

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.