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Home , Emomali Rahmon, Rustam Emomali, Saparmurat Niyazov

NO. 10 FEBRUARY 2019 Introduction

Tajikistan on the Road to Andrea Schmitz

Rather overshadowed by ongoing violence in and an unexpected political opening in Uzbekistan, is witnessing the emergence of a totalitarian system focused entirely on the president. Alongside legal moves and key appointments, ideo- logical propaganda plays a central role. Two main trends are involved: the presenta- tion of President as bringer of peace and guarantor of national unity, and the establishment of a canon of “national” norms and values designed to enforce social and ideological homogeneity. The spectre of Islamic fundamentalism is instru- mentalised to consolidate the ruling ideology, while surveillance and sanctioning enforce behavioural conformity.

Unlike the neighbouring Central Asian servative and the economically marginal- republics, Tajikistan’s consolidation as an ised. After entering parliament in 2000 the independent state after the collapse of the IRP grew to become the strongest opposi- was interrupted by a civil tion force, claiming about forty thousand war (1992–1997). That event remains an active members in 2014. important point of reference for the post- communist elite under President Emomali Rahmon, who came to power on the back Elimination of Opposition of the war. The externally mediated 1997 peace agreement with the United Tajik President Rahmon, whose supporters are Opposition (UTO) forced Rahmon to share organised in the People’s Democratic Party power with his former adversaries. The (PDP, the de facto successor to the Soviet-era Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) played an Communist Party), has increasingly ignored especially prominent role, having reorgan- the peace agreement since the end of the ised itself after being the strongest group civil war. Former warlords have been suc- within the opposition alliance during the cessively excluded from politics, along with war. The IRP advocated a secular and political entrepreneurs and businessmen democratic political order on the basis of who dared to challenge the President’s Muslim values. In a country plagued by power. poverty, whose economic survival depends The IRP was not exempt from this policy. on labour migration and foreign loans, it Its open complaints of corruption and found its base among the religiously con- abuse of power by representatives of the

elite and its demands for good governance the same time the minimum age for the in harmony with the tenets of Islam pre- presidency was reduced from 35 to 30 sented a particularly serious challenge to years. That would enable Rahmon’s son the regime. But as long as it was represented (30) to stand in the 2020 in parliament (even if only holding a few presidential election. seats) and its status as a legal political orga- Rustam Emomali has been mayor of the nisation was protected by the constitution, capital since January 2017, hav- there was no legal possibility to exclude it ing previously served in two strategically from the political arena. In fact, the regime important positions, as head of the customs exploited the IRP’s existence internally and service and (from 2015) head of the state externally to portray Tajikistan as a country anti-corruption agency. Other members orientated on democratic principles. At the of the presidential family also hold high same time, the regime concentrated on offices of state. Ozoda Rahmon, the Presi- undermining the party’s support through dent’s eldest daughter, is senator in the defamation and repression. In the March upper chamber of parliament and since 2015 parliamentary elections, which were January 2016 the President’s chief of staff. subject to numerous irregularities, the IRP Her husband, Jamoliddin Nuraliev, is First failed to win any seats; only parties loyal Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of to the regime have been represented ever Tajikistan and represents his country on the since. A few months after the election the board of governors of the European Bank for IRP’s registration was annulled, its struc- Reconstruction and Development. Other tures destroyed and leading members im- family members control lucrative businesses. prisoned. This concentration of political and eco- In September 2015 the regime declared nomic power in the head of state’s family is the IRP a terrorist organisation, followed not specific to Tajikistan. The neighbouring by a merciless hunt for party members and republics also demonstrate more or less their families. The persecution continues to strong tendencies for dynastic rule and con- this day and also targets activists who fled solidation of power through institutional abroad. mechanisms. ’s President Nur- sultan Nazarbayev, for example, can stand for office as often as he wishes thanks to a Consolidating Autocracy constitutional amendment adopted in 2007. He too was granted the title of “leader of Elimination of the political opposition the nation” (elbasy) in conjunction with a through concerted action by the organs 2010 law granting him life-long immunity of the state was accompanied by legal from prosecution. measures and appointments that institu- tionally cement the personal power of the President and his family. In December 2015, soon after the crushing of the IRP, parliament passed a law granting President Public shows of veneration of the head of Rahmon life-long immunity from prosecu- state are an established feature of represen- tion. The same law stipulates that the Presi- tation of power in post-. dent be referred to as “leader of the nation” But with his elevation to “leader of the (peshvoi millat) in official contexts including nation” the cult of personality around the state television, together with the attri- Tajik President attained dimensions that bute “founder of peace and national unity”. otherwise appeared exclusive to Turk- Soon thereafter, in May 2016, Rahmon menistan. In the 1990s Turkmen President secured his open-ended grip on power established a totali- through a referendum that abolished the tarian system encompassing all areas of restriction to two presidential terms. At society, which still exists today. Since the

SWP Comment 10 February 2019

2 de facto abandonment of the 1997 peace subject of “The Youth Follows the Leader agreement and the associated abolition of of the Nation”. State television broadcast a political pluralism, Tajikistan now appears documentary about President Rahmon en- to be moving in a similar direction. titled “A Man of Destiny”, while a theatre President Rahmon is omnipresent in the play (“The Chosen One”) was dedicated to state media, while the veneration of the him and the interior minister published “leader of the nation” in word and image is an ode in the weekly Tojikiston. The poem, everyday routine in the country’s places of written in the classical rubā’ī form asserts education. This cultivates a narrative that that the President had been “sent by God” the state leadership has exploited since the (pajgomi jazdonī) to the . The chairman civil war to marginalise other more differ- of the State Committee for National Secu- entiated interpretations. In this version rity also took up the theme in the news- of events President Rahmon is the bringer paper Jumhuriyat, which is read principally of peace who saved the fatherland from by public officials. the civil war and restored national unity by To dismiss such gestures as folklore virtue of his outstanding abilities. Instru- would be to underestimate the strength of mentalisation of the IRP as a threat is their political message. Such speech acts central to the dramaturgy of the narrative. by high-ranking officials formulate implicit The party is portrayed as a dangerous adver- behavioural maxims, addressed both to gov- sary seeking – even from exile and in alli- ernment employees and the broader public. ance with Islamist terrorists – to divide the Indeed, one year after the publication of country, undermine peace and stability, and the interior minister’s sycophantic verses, provoke a new civil war. The threat is con- the newspaper Tojikiston announced a prize jured incessantly, even though the IRP has for the best poem about the country and its become irrelevant to Tajik politics since 2015. leader. The minister’s work itself also lived Attempts to cast doubt over or relativise on, being set to music in 2017 by a well- the official narrative are treated as an at- known Tajik pop quartet and disseminated tack on the integrity of the state, as demon- on the internet as a video clip. Other Tajik strated by the repression of independent pop stars also reach broad audiences with media. The weekly Nigoh (View), which sup- repetitively similar images praising the plied regular analysis on social and political achievements of the “leader of the nation”. issues, was forced to cease publication in November 2016. Other media, websites and social networks disseminating critical re- Identity Politics ports frequently find their work obstructed or blocked entirely. Containing Islam plays a central role in the efforts of the state elites to create a socially and ideologically homogeneous Tajik soci- Propaganda ety. The success of the moderate IRP and the propaganda of various extremist groups The glorification of the President is not, demonstrate the significant mobilising however, generated exclusively through potential of Islam. Containing it is thus a repression of those who fail to demonstrate priority for the state. sufficient enthusiasm. Active propaganda Two components are crucial. Firstly, strict by high-ranking officials, academics, artists oversight of and their personnel and performers is at least as important for is intended to create a politically quiescent generating loyalty. The inauguration of a state Islam and banish all visible signs of re- new public holiday dedicated to the Presi- ligious practice from public space. Secondly, dent in November 2016, for example, was a canon of “national” values and associated the occasion for an essay-writing competi- behavioural rules intervenes deeply into tion at all places of higher education on the the everyday lives of the population.

SWP Comment 10 February 2019

3 Above all the hijab and the beard are stigmatised as “un-Tajik”. An “anti-radicali- sation” campaign saw men having their beards shaved off under police supervision while women were publicly admonished not to wear the hijab. In April 2018 the Ministry of Culture issued a 367-page set of guidelines for Tajik women’s dress, which is not legally binding but does generate con- siderable pressure of conformity. Linguistic © Stiftung Wissenschaft measures are also employed to ward off und Politik, 2019 outside influence. Russian place names All rights reserved have been changed and Slavic endings on family names are regarded as undesirable. This Comment reflects Popular Arabic names are taboo, with a the author’s views. recommendation to give children Tajik The online version of names instead. this publication contains The Law Governing the Practice of Tradi- functioning links to other tions, Rites and Celebrations was amended SWP texts and other relevant in 2017 and 2018 to prohibit Islamic sym- sources. bols at circumcisions, weddings and funer- SWP Comments are subject als, restrict attendance to close relatives and to internal peer review, fact- bar excessive spending. Birthday celebra- checking and copy-editing. tions are limited to family members. Promi- For further information on nent figures are not exempted from these our quality control pro- rules. Violations are strictly pursued and in cedures, please visit the SWP website: https://www.swp- the case of civil servants can lead to dis- berlin.org/en/about-swp/ missal. quality-management-for- Through such massive interventions in swp-publications/ the private lives of citizens, the abolition of political pluralism and ideological mobili- SWP sation the Tajik state, backed by numerous Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik external actors with economic and security German Institute for interests, is following an increasingly totali- International and tarian trajectory. Europe, which is commit- Security Affairs ted to cultivating democratic principles and rule of law in Tajikistan, should be aware Ludwigkirchplatz 3–4 10719 Berlin that this is going to become even more diffi- Telephone +49 30 880 07-0 cult in future. Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected]

ISSN 1861-1761 doi: 10.18449/2019C10

Translation by Meredith Dale

(English version of SWP-Aktuell 6/2019)

Dr Andrea Schmitz is Senior Associate in the Eastern Europe and Eurasia Research Division.

SWP Comment 10 February 2019

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