Primary results show Emomali Rahmon reelected as Tajik president

DUSHANBE - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has won Sunday's presidential election in a landslide victory, beating four other candidates, according to the primary results announced Monday by the central commission for elections and referendums.

The commission said Rahmon, from the ruling People's Democratic Party, scored 3.8 million or 90.9 percent of the total votes. Candidates from the Agrarian Party and the Economic Reforms Party have garnered 3.3 percent and 2.15 percent respectively, ranking second and third.

On Sunday, 4.2 million citizens cast their ballots, with the voter turnout totaling 85.39 percent, the commission added.

According to Tajik law, a presidential election will be declared valid if more than 50 percent registered voters cast their ballots. The winner should garner more than half of the votes.

The election was held in a transparent and democratic atmosphere, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, said Bakhtiyor Khudoerzoda, chairman of the commission.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the situation at all polling stations was stable, while citizens actively participated in the voting.

Sunday's election was monitored by 145 international observers from international organizations including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States. In addition, 267 representatives of local and foreign media covered the election process, the central commission said, adding that the final results will be announced no later than two weeks.

Rahmon was born in 1952. He was elected president in 1994, and re-elected in 1999, 2006 and 2013, respectively.

In his electoral manifesto released last month, Rahmon vowed to double the country's gross domestic product from the current level over the next seven years. He also pledged to expand the proportion of middle-income residents to 45 percent and raise the socio-economic development indicators to the level of middle-income countries.

Rahmon also said that he would guarantee the energy and food security of the Central Asian country and expand investment in education, health care and pensions in his fifth term.