Emomali Rahmonov
Encyclopedia
Emomalii Rahmon (born October 5, 1952) has served as the head of state
of the Republic of Tajikistan since 1992, under the position of President since 1994.
, in the Kulob Oblast
, now part of Khatlon province. In 1971-1974 he served in the Soviet Armed Forces
. As an apparatchik
rising through the nomenklatura
, his original power base was as chairman of the collective state farm of his native Dangara. In 1982, he graduated from the Tajik State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics
. Between 1976 and 1988, Rahmon was the Chairman of the Union Committee of the collective farm in the Dangara region of Kulob province. He also held various positions in leading Government divisions at that time.
and abolished the position of president that same month. Rahmon, then the Speaker of Parliament, became the head-of-government.
During the civil war that last from 1992 to 1997, Rahmon's rule was opposed by the United Tajik Opposition
. As many as 100,000 people died during the war. Rahmon survived an assassination attempt in April 1997 in Khujand
, as well as two attempted coup
s in August 1997 and in November 1998.
On November 6, 1994, Rahmon was elected to the newly created post of president of Tajikistan, and he was sworn in on November 16. Following constitutional changes, he was re-elected on November 6, 1999 to a seven-year term, taking 97% of the [reported] vote. On June 22, 2003, he won a referendum that would allow him to run for two more consecutive seven-year terms after his present term expired in 2006. The opposition alleges that this amendment was hidden in a way that verged upon electoral fraud
. Rahmon was re-elected in a controversial election on November 6, 2006, with about 79% of the vote according to the official results.
He is leader of the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan
, which dominates the Tajik legislature.
He is married to Azizmo Asadullayeva and has nine children. He has seven daughters and two sons. His sons are Rustam and Somon, whilst his daughters are Firuza, Ozoda, Rukhshona, Takhmina, Parvina, Zarrina and Farzona.
in 2010 corroborate the massive scale of corruption that Rahmon and his family are involved in. A cable dated 16 February 2010 from the US embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, describes how Rahmon runs the country's economy for his own personal profit. Rahmon and his family control the country's major businesses, including the largest bank, and they "play hardball to protect their business interests, no matter the cost to the economy writ large". Tajikistan's sole industrial exports are aluminium and hydroelectricity. According to the cable, most of the revenues from the "technically state-owned Tajik Aluminium Company (Talco) end up in a secretive offshore company
controlled by the president" and "the state budget sees little of the income".
was Rahmonov, which included the Russian ending -ov, which was added to the first name of the father of Muslim Central Asian men in the 19th century to create surnames as a result of the influence of the Russian Empire
. In March 2007, Rahmonov announced that he had dropped the -ov ending and changed his last name to Rahmon and that he urges other Tajiks to follow his example and return to their cultural and national roots. The official website of the presidency uses the name Emomali Rahmonov in all news up to March 20, 2007 and Emomalii Rahmon since March 21, without any explanation.
The added i at the end of his first name is a Persian ezafe meaning Emomali of Rahmon. It can be used to link two nouns or a noun and an adjective. For a first name, it can be used when followed by the surname.
when he went to Mecca
in March 1997. He has called for closer ties with other Muslim nations in the region, notably the Persian
speaking nations of Iran
and Afghanistan
. His reply to the critics of the election standards of the 2006 Tajikistani presidential elections was:
The international community has repeatedly criticized the Rahmon administration's record on human rights and press freedom.
Tajikistan marked 2009 as the year to commemorate the Sunni Muslim jurist Abu Hanifa, as the nation hosted an international symposium that drew scientific and religious leaders. The construction of one of the largest mosques in the world, funded by Qatar
, was announced in October 2009. The mosque is planned to be built in Dushanbe and construction is said to be completed by 2014.
During a 2010 Organisation of the Islamic Conference session hosted in Dushanbe
, Rahmon spoke against what he deemed was the misuse of Islam toward political ends, noting, "Terrorism, terrorists, have no nation, no country, no religion." Rahmon added, "Using the name 'Islamic terrorism' only discredits Islam and dishonors the clean and harmless religion of Islam."
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
of the Republic of Tajikistan since 1992, under the position of President since 1994.
Biography
Rahmon was born to a peasant family in KulobKulob
Kulob , also Kulab or Kulyab , is a city in Kulob district, Khatlon Province, Tajikistan. Located 203 km south-east of the capital Dushanbe on the Yakhsu River , it is one of the largest cities in the country Kulob , also Kulab or Kulyab , is a city in Kulob district, Khatlon Province, Tajikistan....
, in the Kulob Oblast
Kulob Oblast
Kulob Oblast was an administrative subdivision in Tajikistan during the Soviet period . In 1992 it was merged with the Qurghonteppa Oblast to create Khatlon Province. The city of Kulob was the capital of the oblast. The inhabitants of Kulob Oblast were referred to as Kulobis...
, now part of Khatlon province. In 1971-1974 he served in the Soviet Armed Forces
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, also called the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Armed Forces of the Soviet Union refers to the armed forces of the Russian SFSR , and Soviet Union from their beginnings in the...
. As an apparatchik
Apparatchik
Apparatchik is a Russian colloquial term for a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party or government; i.e., an agent of the governmental or party "apparat" that held any position of bureaucratic or political responsibility, with the exception of the higher ranks of management...
rising through the nomenklatura
Nomenklatura
The nomenklatura were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in all spheres of those countries' activity: government, industry, agriculture, education, etc., whose positions were granted only with approval by the...
, his original power base was as chairman of the collective state farm of his native Dangara. In 1982, he graduated from the Tajik State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. Between 1976 and 1988, Rahmon was the Chairman of the Union Committee of the collective farm in the Dangara region of Kulob province. He also held various positions in leading Government divisions at that time.
Prime Minister and President
In 1990, Rahmon was elected a people's deputy to the Supreme Council of the Tajik SSR. President Rahmon Nabiyev resigned in the first months of the Civil War in Tajikistan in August 1992. Akbarsho Iskandarov, Speaker of the Supreme Soviet, became acting president. Iskandarov resigned in November in an attempt to end the civil unrest. The Supreme Soviet met in KhujandKhujand
Khujand , also transliterated as Khudzhand, , formerly Khodjend or Khodzhent until 1936 and Leninabad until 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Syr Darya River at the mouth of the Fergana Valley...
and abolished the position of president that same month. Rahmon, then the Speaker of Parliament, became the head-of-government.
During the civil war that last from 1992 to 1997, Rahmon's rule was opposed by the United Tajik Opposition
United Tajik Opposition
The United Tajik Opposition was an alliance of democratic, liberal and Islamist forces that fought in the Tajik Civil War from 1992 to 1997 against administration of President Emomali Rahmonov....
. As many as 100,000 people died during the war. Rahmon survived an assassination attempt in April 1997 in Khujand
Khujand
Khujand , also transliterated as Khudzhand, , formerly Khodjend or Khodzhent until 1936 and Leninabad until 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Syr Darya River at the mouth of the Fergana Valley...
, as well as two attempted coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
s in August 1997 and in November 1998.
On November 6, 1994, Rahmon was elected to the newly created post of president of Tajikistan, and he was sworn in on November 16. Following constitutional changes, he was re-elected on November 6, 1999 to a seven-year term, taking 97% of the [reported] vote. On June 22, 2003, he won a referendum that would allow him to run for two more consecutive seven-year terms after his present term expired in 2006. The opposition alleges that this amendment was hidden in a way that verged upon electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
. Rahmon was re-elected in a controversial election on November 6, 2006, with about 79% of the vote according to the official results.
He is leader of the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan
People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan
The People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan is a political party in Tajikistan. It is the ruling party, and is led by Emomalii Rahmon, the current President of Tajikistan. At the last legislative elections, 27 February and 13 March 2005 , the party won 74% of the popular vote and 52 out of 63 seats...
, which dominates the Tajik legislature.
He is married to Azizmo Asadullayeva and has nine children. He has seven daughters and two sons. His sons are Rustam and Somon, whilst his daughters are Firuza, Ozoda, Rukhshona, Takhmina, Parvina, Zarrina and Farzona.
Corruption
US diplomatic cables that were leaked by WikileaksWikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
in 2010 corroborate the massive scale of corruption that Rahmon and his family are involved in. A cable dated 16 February 2010 from the US embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, describes how Rahmon runs the country's economy for his own personal profit. Rahmon and his family control the country's major businesses, including the largest bank, and they "play hardball to protect their business interests, no matter the cost to the economy writ large". Tajikistan's sole industrial exports are aluminium and hydroelectricity. According to the cable, most of the revenues from the "technically state-owned Tajik Aluminium Company (Talco) end up in a secretive offshore company
Offshore company
The term offshore company is ambiguous. It may refer to either:# A company which is incorporated outside the jurisdiction of its primary operations regardless of whether that jurisdiction is an offshore financial centre i.e...
controlled by the president" and "the state budget sees little of the income".
Name change
Emomalii Rahmon's original surnameSurname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
was Rahmonov, which included the Russian ending -ov, which was added to the first name of the father of Muslim Central Asian men in the 19th century to create surnames as a result of the influence of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. In March 2007, Rahmonov announced that he had dropped the -ov ending and changed his last name to Rahmon and that he urges other Tajiks to follow his example and return to their cultural and national roots. The official website of the presidency uses the name Emomali Rahmonov in all news up to March 20, 2007 and Emomalii Rahmon since March 21, without any explanation.
The added i at the end of his first name is a Persian ezafe meaning Emomali of Rahmon. It can be used to link two nouns or a noun and an adjective. For a first name, it can be used when followed by the surname.
Rahmon, Religion and Tajik culture
Rahmon is a Sunni Muslim and has performed the hajjHajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
when he went to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
in March 1997. He has called for closer ties with other Muslim nations in the region, notably the Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
speaking nations of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. His reply to the critics of the election standards of the 2006 Tajikistani presidential elections was:
The international community has repeatedly criticized the Rahmon administration's record on human rights and press freedom.
Tajikistan marked 2009 as the year to commemorate the Sunni Muslim jurist Abu Hanifa, as the nation hosted an international symposium that drew scientific and religious leaders. The construction of one of the largest mosques in the world, funded by Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, was announced in October 2009. The mosque is planned to be built in Dushanbe and construction is said to be completed by 2014.
During a 2010 Organisation of the Islamic Conference session hosted in Dushanbe
Dushanbe
-Economy:Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the cities of Nurek and Kulob allowing for the industrialization of Dushanbe. The Nurek Dam, the world's highest as of 2008, generates 95% of Tajikistan's electricity, and another dam, the Roghun Dam, is planned on the Vakhsh River...
, Rahmon spoke against what he deemed was the misuse of Islam toward political ends, noting, "Terrorism, terrorists, have no nation, no country, no religion." Rahmon added, "Using the name 'Islamic terrorism' only discredits Islam and dishonors the clean and harmless religion of Islam."