RAHMONOV CLAIMS RIGHT TO OVERRIDE NATIONAL RECONCILIATION COMMISSION DECISIONS.

Tajik president Imomali Rahmonov’s chief legal adviser, Halifabobo Hamidov, a member of the National Reconciliation Commission, stated yesterday that the electoral law set to be worked out by the NRC will be subject to Rahmonov’s approval. Rahmonov may approve, reject, or return the law for changes, and it will be up to him to call a referendum for final approval of the law "if he accepts it." Hamidov made these claims yesterday at the inaugural session of the NRC’s subcommission on legal affairs, one of the commission’s four special panels. The government side also insisted on maintaining a unicameral parliament, whereas the Opposition seeks a bicameral parliament in order to secure representation for the country’s regions. The Opposition’s arguments on both counts went unreported. (Russian agencies, October 8)

In the subcommission for political affairs, similarly, Rahmonov’s representatives have claimed a right for the president to approve or reject the Opposition’s nominees for government posts. Without formally challenging the substance of the pacification agreement, which gave the Opposition a 30 percent quota of government posts at the central and local levels, Dushanbe now claims that Rahmonov "as president" is entitled to determine the suitability of Opposition nominees. The Opposition’s counter arguments are going unreported in this controversy as well. (Russian agencies, October 3-4)

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