Yodgor Faizov: The Greatest Wealth of GBAO Is Its People The Chairman of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of the Republic of Tajikistan and CABAR.asia summarize the results of one year of his work. Follow us on Facebook Yodgor Faizov officially took the lead in GBAO on October 1, 2018 by Decree of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. He superseded Shodihon Jamshed on this position, whom the President criticized during a working trip to Khorog on September 15 of the same year. Yodgor Faizov has been the chairperson of GBAO since According to Rahmon, in October 2018. Photo: CABAR.asia GBAO, primarily in Khorog, the administrative center of the region, criminal groups have become active. The President gave a month to law enforcement agencies of the country and region to restore order. A month later, senior officials of security and law enforcement agencies were replaced. To resolve the situation and to seize arms, an interdepartmental headquarters of law enforcement agencies in GBAO was created. Yodgor Faizov: The Greatest Wealth of GBAO Is Its People Before an assignment to a position of GBAO’s Head, Yodgor Faizov for a long time worked in the Aga Khan Foundation programs in Tajikistan, and since 2004, as its executive director in Dushanbe. Rahmon appointed Fayzov not without a reason: he is a native of this region; he began his career in local branches of the Komsomol. GBAO is a unique region in terms of its social, geographical, cultural, political characteristics. Pamiri peoples live here; they differ from Tajiks in culture and language. In recent years, there has been a confrontation between the central government and local unofficial leaders of this region, primarily in its administrative center Khorog. The situation escalated in 2012 when clashes between security forces and unofficial leaders’ supporters broke out in Khorog. Then, negotiations resolved the conflict, but the contradictions between these forces persist to this day. In such a difficult situation, Yodgor Faizov headed his small motherland a year ago. The editorial team of CABAR.asia spoke with Faizov about the main directions of his work and his intentions to change the situation in GBAO for the better. CABAR.asia: Many Tajiks and foreign observers were surprised at your appointment to the position of the Chairman of GBAO. Why do you think the President of Tajikistan offered this position to you? Yodgor Faizov: This question is not for me. You should ask the President of the country, why during those days and hours he decided to entrust this responsible position to me. I personally asked him this question and named several experienced people, since I have been outside the public administration system for 26 years. The president said that he analyzed the situation, and at that moment, according to him: “it is you who must take this position. Despite the fact that you have a good job and salary, travel the world, you are obliged to do this work for the good of the country and the people”. All media discussed this topic, even international ones, asking a question “Why Faizov?” The news was unexpected even for my family and friends. What progress have you achieved during this time? Yodgor Faizov: The Greatest Wealth of GBAO Is Its People During the reception of citizens. Photo: press service of the GBAO administration Unfortunately, I cannot boast of any outstanding achievements over the past year. The only progress achieved with the support of the people, the president and other bodies, I believe, is the strengthening of peace and comfort, and the reduction of people’s enmity towards government officials. Thank God, there is much less of this. Other relationships and a different level of trust are formed. In one of the interviews, I already noted that people expect a lot from me and I am afraid that I will not be able to satisfy these expectations. You noted that people expect a lot from you and you may not satisfy these expectations. Some experts note that the powers of the Chairman of the region, determined by the Constitution and the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On GBAO”, are limited to the level of the President’s representative. Many departments do not comply with him; within the framework of his powers, the Chairman of the region cannot do much. What do you think about this? Yodgor Faizov: The Greatest Wealth of GBAO Is Its People The powers of the Chairman of GBAO, just like those of the Heads of any other region, are not so broad. Despite the fact that the title of the Chairman of the region sounds solid, sometimes we have to address ministers and heads of other departments to resolve even the simplest issues. I do not even have the authority to dismiss an ordinary worker in the spheres of agriculture, education or healthcare, if there is no consent of the minister. I cannot even permit to mine gold, which is washed by the river [Panj, in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya] to the Aral Sea. Luckily, the only thing that helps me and that I have the authority to use is a direct contact with the President. I can directly contact him at a personal meeting or by phone [with a request], and then with his assistance, issues are resolved at the level of ministries and other departments. We meet with many people, investors and want to establish partnership with them, but without the permission of the central authorities and other structures, it is impossible to do anything. What measures do you implement to remove these obstacles? Have you submitted certain proposals to the government? Many times. I put forward such proposals at several meetings and in official correspondence. The President personally also raised this issue, some problems were resolved, but many remained. We will continue with these efforts. I am not saying that the Chairman of the region should have the absolute authority; everything should be decided together with central authorities and other departments. However, the higher-ups should hear the initiatives and voices to know what kind of demands and problems exist. On Security Can we have your input on the security issues that President Emomali Rahmon mentioned during his visit a year ago? Do those groups and individuals that were referred to as “organized criminal groups” in the security forces’ statements collaborate with the authorities? Yodgor Faizov: The Greatest Wealth of GBAO Is Its People Heads of security forces on the meeting with President Rahmon in September 2018. Photo: president.tj The situation has improved a lot. People’s attitude was originally very positive. Only the sector of the youth who violated the rules was opposed: they drove the cars without license plates and with tinted windows. More than 8 thousand foreign tourists visited GBAO, people came from other regions of the country and there were no incidents. There were minor difficulties that did not have a major impact. Of course, the foundation of this is both the wisdom inherent in Badakhshani people and the peaceful policy of the Leader of the Nation. As for the mentioned groups, almost nothing remained of their former authority and influence. Do the leaders of these groups collaborate with GBAO administration? In some cases, we cooperate; on many issues, we disagree with each other. It is impossible to solve all the problems in one year. This is unrealistic. A person, who had an influence for 20 years, had a group, authority, and income… It is impossible to deprive him of this in one year. Therefore, it would be wrong to say that we have no serious problems since there are forces that can complicate the situation at any specific time. The most important task was to withdraw the population and youth from these individuals’ Yodgor Faizov: The Greatest Wealth of GBAO Is Its People control. If earlier they could bring tens of thousands of citizens to the streets with just one word, now, perhaps, they will be able to find only 1,000 people or only 300. If earlier they openly interfered with the government bodies or prevented them from working, today there are very few such cases. What, as you think, led to this situation? This is also our, authorities’ fault. Tajik people, especially highlanders, are very sensitive to injustice. If they know that someone, whether a civil servant, a police officer or a prosecutor, is dishonest, they immediately turn away from him/her. During a year of work, I felt that people immediately turn away as soon as they observe injustice. When we cannot respond to citizens’ requests fairly and competently, do not intend to solve their problems, they apply to other people. Therefore, they demonstrated their protest, “expressed their frustration”. What do you think about the work of the interdepartmental headquarters of law enforcement agencies created to ensure security in the region? Work continues but takes a different form. Previously, more attention was paid to security issues; they were searching for weapons and the source of possible threat. Nowadays, more attention is being paid to the rule of law and even to problems that are not in the headquarters’ focus. For example, paying fines, bank loans and other issues that have not been resolved for many years. Sometimes their work is simultaneous with ours. There are even situations that must be resolved by the Chairman of the region, but they work on them. Does this happen in alignment with you, or they act independently? Of course, we may disagree on many issues. I am saying that there cannot be dual power in one area: on the one hand, the Chairman of the region, and on the other, the headquarters.