Tajikistani presidential election, 1994

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Presidential elections were held in Tajikistan on 6 November 1994.[1] The result was a victory for Emomali Rahmonov, who was supported (but not officially nominated) by the Communist Party of Tajikistan and won 59.5% of the vote. Voter turnout was 95.0%.

Background

The elections took place amidst the ongoing civil war, although a round of talks in Tehran in September 1994 provided for a formal cease-fire, scheduled to end on 5 Novembe.[2] The initial scheduled date for the elections was 25 September, but by early September only Rahmonov was registered. The Russian and Uzbek governments put pressure on Rahmonov, resulting in the postponement of the election to 6 November and extension of the nomination deadline until 27 October.

Campaign

Although the second registered candidate, Abdumalik Abdullajanov was not a decoy figure, the main opposition forces largely barred from any political activity at the time of the elections, as they had not been allowed to form political parties. As a result, the opposition boycotted the elections, saying that a fair contest was impossible with Rahmonov in power.

Conduct

The election process was described in a 1995 US State Department report as favoring the incumbent ruler and being non-fair: intimidation and ballot-box stuffing was reported, vote rigging was suspected.[3]

Results

Candidate Party Votes %
Emomali Rahmonov 1,434,43759.5
Abdumalik Abdullajanov 835,86134.7
Against all
Invalid/blank votes –
Total2,409,330100
Registered voters/turnout
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D, Grotz, F & Hartmann, C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p462 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
  2. ↑ Linda Edgeworth, Walter Smith, Scott Lansell, Gwenn Hoffman, Sara Dashtamirova; Walter Smith; Linda Edgeworth; Scott Lansell (1 March 1995). Compendium of Reports on Technical Election Assistance to Tajikistan: Pre-Election Assessment, Election Day Observations, Post-Election Technical Asse. IFES. pp. 19–. ISBN 978-1-879720-28-2.
  3. ↑ Tajikistan Human Rights Practices, 1994 - US Department of State, February 1995