Dushanbe, March 3 (IANS) Preliminary results show that Tajikistan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party has won Sunday’s parliamentary elections with 51.9 per cent of the vote, Bakhtiyor Khudoyorzoda, Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), announced Monday.
The ruling party led by President Emomali Rahmon secured 12 out of the 22 seats on party lists, and 37 seats in 41 single-mandate constituencies, according to the election commission.
Out of the 22 seats on party lists, the Agrarian Party secured five seats, the Economic Reform Party won three seats, and the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party each gained one seat.
The 22 out of all 63 seats in the lower house were contested by 68 candidates nominated by political parties, while the remaining 41 seats would be elected from among 152 candidates across 41 constituencies, Xinhua news agency reported.
Voting began at 6 am local time (0100 GMT) and concluded at 8 pm (1500 GMT) on Sunday. There were 3,513 polling stations nationwide, along with 36 overseas polling stations, according to the commission.
A total of 220 candidates, including representatives from six political parties and some independents, competed for 63 seats in the lower house.
Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, leader of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, cast his ballot on Sunday morning at polling station No. 15 in the capital city of Dushanbe.
According to data released by Tajikistan’s CEC, the country currently has more than five million registered voters.
Forty-one seats out of all 63 seats in the lower house are elected from among 152 candidates across 41 constituencies, while the remaining 22 seats are contested by 68 candidates nominated by the six parties which participated in the elections.
–IANS
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