DUSHANBE, July 29, 2015, Asia-Plus --  “We cannot speak about return of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) leader Muhiddin Kabiri to Tajikistan until pressure on our party and its supporters continues,” IRP deputy leader, Mahmadali Hayit, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, Muhiddin Kabiri is in constant contact with the party.

Asked about IRP’s appeal to the guarantors of the inter-Tajik peace agreement, Hayit said, “To-date, only the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has responded to our appeal and sent a note to the Tajik MFA.”

“We knew about the OSCE note from its representative but he refrained from giving the note details,” the IRP activist said.

We will recall that the IRP on July 1 launched an official appeal to the guarantors of the inter-Tajik peace agreement, asking to help keep peace and stability in the country.  The appeal was sent yesterday to Russian President Vladimir Putin, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the European Union, guarantor nations and members of the Contact Group of Guarantor States – Iran, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

In its appeal, the IRP, in particular, notes that pressure on the party may lead to increase in level of radicalization of the population and put security of Central Asia under threat.

“The IRP has made a decision to appeal to you following an unhealthy situation that emerged in the country, in particular illegal actions of the Tajik authorities against separate individuals, parties, opposition political and religious groups,” the appeal says.

The IRP board considers that these actions of the authorities not only contradict the Constitution of Tajikistan and the General Peace Agreement but also pose threat to stability and security in Central Asia.

“Thousands of people, giving up hope for justice and opportunities of free political and economic activities, left the country while the other part joined radical groups,” the appeal notes.

Practically political parties of Tajikistan, except the Social-Democratic Party (SDP), have condemned the IRP’s appeal, saying that it does not have the right to speak on behalf of the whole UTO.  The Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT), in particular, noted in its statement that “the IRP’s claim that it was the second party in the peace and accord agreement does not correspond to historical truth.”

Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is the only Islamic party officially registered in former Soviet Central Asia.  The IRP was registered on December 4, 1991.  It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999.  Its official newspaper is Najot (Salvation).  According to some source, the IRP now has some 50,000 members.

Since 1999, the party has reportedly been the second-largest party in Tajikistan after the ruling People''s Democratic Party of Tajikistan.

In the 2005 and 2010 parliamentary elections, the IRP won two out of 63 seats in the parliament, but in the 2015 parliamentary polls the party failed to clear the 5 percent threshold needed to win parliament seats.

The party leaders said the elections were not fair and alleged fraud in vote-counting.

The IRP''s leadership has blamed its current crisis on “government pressure” that has reportedly helped lead to the closure of the party regional offices one after another across the country.