DUSHANBE, May 28, 2013, Asia-Plus – The Political Council of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) met in Dushanbe on May 25 to discuss the current social and political situation in the country.

A statement, released by the DPT Political Council on May 28, in particular, notes that the situation in Tajikistan is precarious.

“If political forces do not come to a certain opinion, negligence by authorities may have unforeseen consequences.  There are forces both inside the country and outside it that can use the situation.”

DPT calls on political forces to come to the negotiating table.  DPT offers to conduct the dialogue among active political forces in the framework of the Public Council of Tajikistan that has functioned in the country for more than fifteen years.

DPT also offers to rename the Public Council the Consultative Council under the President of Tajikistan.  “In this case, political institutions and civil society will value decisions made by the Council,” the statement noted.

The Democratic Party of Tajikistan can trace its origins back to the last days of the Soviet Union.  Registered on June 21, 1991 and banned by the Supreme Court on June 21, 1993, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan was reregistered on December 3, 1999.

At the end of 1990s, two factions laid claim to the Democratic Party of Tajikistan: the Almaty platform led by Mahmadruzi Iskandarov and the Tehran platform run by Azam Afzali.  The Tehran platform later transformed itself into the Taraqqiyot (Progress) Party.

On October 5, 2005, the Supreme Court sentenced DPT leader Mahmadruzi Iskandarov to 23 years in prison.  The sentence followed his conviction on charges of terrorism, the embezzlement of state funds, and the illegal storage of weapons, though his supporters say he was jailed for political motives.

The party split into two factions again and the Ministry of Justice recognized Masoud Sobirov as the legitimate leader of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan in October 2006.    

An extraordinary congress of DPT that took place in Dushanbe on December 23, 2012 elected Saidjaffar Ismonov, the leader of one of the DPT wings, as chairman of the party.