Rahmon calls for a decade of peace worldwide at the summit

Some representatives of the Tajik intelligentsia have called President Rahmon “the Peacemaker Leader of the World.”

Since September 22, President Emomali Rahmon has been on a working visit to New York to participate in the session of the United Nations General Assembly.

On September 23, Emomali Rahmon delivered a speech at the Summit of the Future. During his speech, Rahmon stated that this summit provided an opportunity to “discuss issues of climate change, public health protection, poverty alleviation, women’s living conditions, inclusive education, and other global problems.” However, Rahmon has been repeating these issues at all UN summits since he came to power.

Another issue frequently mentioned by Rahmon has once again become “preventing manifestations of terrorism, extremism, and other global threats.” However, Rahmon’s critics believe that the term “terrorist and extremist” usually refers to anyone who criticizes or disagrees with his government’s policies.

However, to date, the most discussed statement by Rahmon on social media has been his proposal to “adopt a special United Nations resolution on the ‘Decade of Peacebuilding for Future Generations.’

“It is time for us to take effective steps to strengthen the central role of the United Nations in resolving conflicts and restoring peace and stability on the planet. In this regard, I propose to adopt a special United Nations resolution on the ‘Decade of Peacebuilding for Future Generations,'” Rahmon stated during his speech at the Summit of the Future.

These words of Rahmon have found both supporters and opponents. The dean of the journalism faculty at Tajik National University, Saadi Mahdi, writes that Emomali Rahmon, with his proposal to adopt a special UN resolution on the “Decade of Peacebuilding for Future Generations,” has presented the Tajik people as peace-loving.

“The founder of peace and national unity, as a person who has achieved complete peace in his country, has made a proposal that has international significance and emphasizes that all wars on earth should cease in the next ten years, and humanity should live in peace. With this high international proposal, the Leader of the Nation has shown himself to be a Peacemaker Leader in the whole world,” writes Saadi Mahdi.

The dean of the journalism faculty at Tajik National University, who often writes ambiguous posts on social media, states: “Long live our wise president!”

Some supporters of the government’s policies also call this initiative by Rahmon “unique,” praising his “wise and far-sighted policies.”

Opponents of Rahmon’s policies, however, argue that Rahmon, as a person who betrayed the inter-Tajik peace, imprisoned and eliminated his opponents with whom he once made peace, cannot be an example of peace-loving.

The Deputy Leader of the National Alliance of Tajikistan, Alim Sherzamonov, stated in an interview with Azda TV:

“Imagine a government that has not provided its citizens with basic rights and freedoms; in international rankings, Tajikistan occupies the lowest positions, alongside the most backward countries across all indices. In the ranking of civil liberties, Tajikistan is in 197th place out of 209 countries, in the freedom of expression index – 153rd place, and in the economic freedom index – 146th place out of 176 countries. Similarly, during Rahmon’s rule, Tajikistan consistently occupies the lowest positions in all rankings regarding human freedom indices. Now, after 30 years of Rahmon’s rule, after he has massively killed his people, they want to present him as a peace-making leader to the world.”

 “Imagine if this proposal were made by North Korea, under the pretext that such stability, which has existed in North Korea for 70 years, is nowhere else in the world. And even the citizens of that country, according to several happiness rankings, consider themselves happy. However, how many citizens of Tajikistan are willing to live in this country? Would the citizens of Tajikistan agree to the peace proposal offered by the leader of North Korea, and would they agree to move to Korea? And regarding the peace that Rahmon allegedly established in Tajikistan, would citizens of free countries want such peace for themselves?” added Sherzamonov.