On October 11, Tajikistan will have a presidential election in which incumbent Emomali Rahmon is assured of winning another seven-year term in office.
Rahmon has been in power in Tajikistan since late 1992, making him currently the longest serving head of state in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
His family has profited greatly and now seems to have financial interests in all of Tajikistan’s major industries.
There was talk Rahmon might step down and allow his eldest son, Rustam Emomali, to run for president, but in the end -- and with only a few weeks until this election -- Rahmon was nominated to run again for a fifth term in office.
On this week's Majlis podcast, RFE/RL's Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion looking at Rahmon’s years in power and what can be expected on election day and in the months and years after.
This week’s guests are: from Exeter University in the U.K., professor of international studies, John Heathershaw, the author of numerous works on Central Asia and codirector of the Central Asian Political Exiles (CAPE) project; from Germany and originally from Tajikistan, independent journalist and activist Humayra Bakhtiyor; from RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, known locally as Ozodi, editor and television presenter Tohir Safarov; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.
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Majlis Podcast: Tajik President Looks To Extend His Rule To 35 Years
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