Incompetent minister or cowardly president?

In agreement with Emomali Rahmon, new personnel have been appointed to the positions of heads of departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in many cities and districts of the country. 

According to the press service of the president, on April 17, the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon “received for a discussion at the Palace of Nations the employees appointed to responsible positions in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Unitary Enterprise ‘Housing and Communal Services’.

“In agreement with the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, heads of departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Ismoili Somoni district of Dushanbe, the city of Khorog in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, the cities of Gissar and Tursunzade, the Lakhsh district, heads of departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the cities and districts of Levakant, Khuroson, Vose, Dangara, Shamsiddin Shohin, Pyanj, Mumunabad, Farhor, and Khovaling in the Khatlon region, the cities of Guliston and Istaravshan, Bobojon Gafurov, Jabbor Rasulov, and the Kuhistoni Mastchoh district of the Sughd region  have been appointed experienced and qualified personnel,” the statement notes.

The press service of the President of Tajikistan does not provide a list of the new personnel appointed to the positions of heads of departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the cities and districts of the country; however, the question arises whether, since they were appointed to these positions in agreement with President Emomali Rahmon, this means that they will provide special reports directly to the president or to the ministry?

If all heads of departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the cities and districts of the country are appointed or dismissed in agreement with the president, then what are the powers of the Minister of Internal Affairs, his deputies, and the heads of the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Dushanbe and the regions during the selection of personnel?

Another question is, if the Minister of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan does not have the authority to select personnel and appoint or dismiss them directly or in agreement or after consulting with the heads of the ministry’s departments, particularly with the head of the Personnel and Staff Management Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in cooperation with the Internal Security Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – the task of the first of these two departments is to select personnel, while the second ensures the security of the ministry – then what is the purpose of its existence?

What are the Minister of Internal Affairs, his first deputy, and the other 4 deputies – a total of 5 deputies – as well as the heads of the ministry’s departments in Dushanbe, Khatlon region, Sughd region, and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region doing, that they cannot appoint the head of the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the capital or in the mountainous region without the permission of Emomali Rahmon?

This may send two signals to society:

a) some powers of the Minister of Internal Affairs, his deputies, and the heads of the ministry’s departments have been appropriated by the president of the country;

b) Emomali Rahmon, as the president of the country and head of government, does not trust the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the selection and appointment of personnel.

Amrullohi Nizom, specially for Azda tv