How did the parliamentary elections in Tajikistan go?

On March 2, 2025, from 6 AM to 8 PM, elections for the deputies of the Majlisi Milli and Majlisi Namoyandagon (the upper and lower houses of parliament) of Tajikistan will take place.

As reported by the state news agency “Khovar,” today at 10 AM local time, Bakhtiyor Khudoiyorzoda, the chairman of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of Tajikistan, announced the preliminary election results at the National Library of the Republic.

According to the Chairman of the CCE, Bakhtiyor Khudoiyorzoda, 2 million 435 thousand 541 people, or 51.9%, voted for the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan. They received a total of 12 seats in parliament.

It was reported that 986 thousand 887 people, or 21%, voted in support of the Agrarian Party of Tajikistan, which received 5 parliamentary mandates; 237 thousand 536 people, or 5.1%, voted for the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, which received 1 parliamentary mandate; 595 thousand 281 people, or 12.7%, voted for the Party of Economic Reforms of Tajikistan, which received 3 parliamentary mandates; and 248 thousand 64 people, or 5.3%, voted for the Socialist Party of Tajikistan, which received 1 parliamentary mandate.

89 thousand 738 people, or 1.9%, voted for the Communist Party of Tajikistan, which is less than 5%, and therefore the party did not pass to parliament.

According to Bakhtiyor Khudoiyorzoda, 85.3% of the eligible voters in Tajikistan participated in the parliamentary elections.

According to the CEC, out of a total of 5 million 522 thousand 38 voters, 4 million 712 thousand 967 people participated in the elections, which constituted 85.3%. The elections were deemed valid.

Observers from the SCO Mission and the CIS Observer Mission reported no violations, as noted in the statement.

The head of the CIS Observer Mission, Leonid Anfimov, stated during a press conference that the CIS Observer Mission did not identify any gross violations during the elections for deputies in the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan.

“All necessary conditions were ensured, and everything related to the preparation for the elections was organized at a very high level,” said Dmitry Kobitsky, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The SCO Observer Mission described the elections as transparent, credible, and democratic.

“Members of the precinct election commissions created all necessary conditions for voting, adhering to the principles of impartiality. They interacted with voters and observers in a professional and friendly manner, promptly providing clarifications on emerging issues. Their work demonstrated attentiveness, tact, and respect towards voters, representatives of the public, international observers, and journalists,” noted Piao Yanfan, Deputy Secretary General of the SCO.

At the same time, Western observers were not allowed to the parliamentary elections in Tajikistan.

On February 4, the press service of the OSCE reported that the authorities of Tajikistan denied accreditation to the observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for the parliamentary elections in 2025.

The statement noted that although the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) opened a mission to observe the parliamentary elections in Tajikistan on January 22, 2025, the lack of accreditation for international observers from the Tajik authorities led to the necessity of canceling the observation of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Radio Ozodi, the Tajik service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – the only independent international press in Tajikistan – also failed to obtain accreditation to cover the parliamentary elections.

On Monday, a source speaking on condition of anonymity told Azda TV that the authorities were forcing sick people to vote.

 “Yesterday at the Dushanbe hospital ‘Qariyai Bolo’, responsible officials came, took all the patients to the polling station, recorded their names and surnames according to their passports, chose the necessary candidate on the ballot themselves, dropped it in the ballot box, and said: ‘Now you can go,’” he stated.

Another source from the Rudaki district reported by phone: “I witnessed how one person brought a large number of passports and handed them to the responsible person at the polling station, and that person voted on behalf of everyone.”

Some experts believe that falsifications in presidential and parliamentary elections in Tajikistan have occurred before. Even when active opposition parties, such as the PIVT and SDP, were present on the political scene, and international observers, such as the OSCE, were monitoring the elections in the country, the media reported hundreds of cases of falsifications. However, the government has always denied violations and declared the elections to be democratic and transparent.