A new leader of the Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT) has been elected.

An extraordinary 18th congress of the CPT took place in Dushanbe on April 22, 2017.  72 delegates from all regions of the country reportedly attended the congress.

The only issue discussed at the congress was election of a new leader of the party.  The delegates unanimously voted for Miroj Abdulloyev, Secretary of the CPT Central Committee. 

Recall, the CPT Central Committee Secretary Mrzoazim Nasimov had been acting head of the party since January 2017 following death of the party head Ismoil Talbakov.   

Ismoil Talbakov died in Dushanbe on December 16, 2016 aged 61 after a short illness.  

The Communist Party of Tajikistan has lost its two seats in parliament as it failed to pass a 5-percent threshold to get into Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower house of parliament) in March 2015.

Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Tajikistan was registered in 1991.  According to some sources, the party now has 37,000 members.