DUSHANBE, April 8, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) ratified a new Charter of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) at an April 8 sitting.

Speaking at the session, the first Deputy Foreign Minister, Abdullo Yuldoshev, noted that the new charter of the OIC was approved at the 11th summit of the Organization in Senegal in March last year.  According to him, the new charter represents interests not only of 57 member nations of the Organization but the whole Islamic world, and therefore, a number of significant amendments concerning the status of member nations and national self-determination were made to the charter.

We will recall that Tajikistan joined the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1992.

The new charter aimed at reforming the OIC was adopted on March 14, 2008.  The new charter, in particular, allows new countries to join the 57-Muslim body with just a majority vote instead of the usual unanimous agreement.  It also allows faster decision making, creating new institutions for the 57-nation body and streamlining the OIC''s operations.  The new charter replaces the 1972 version, which is outdated.