One of the last major figures of Tajikistan's civil war era has just been removed from a key post he held for 20 years.
Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev might not be a name well known outside Tajikistan, but he has most certainly been someone well known to Tajikistan's people throughout its 25-year history as an independent country. Ubaidulloev is part of Tajikistan's history.
On January 12, many news outlets reported that Rustam Emomali, the 29-year-old son of Tajikistan's president, had been appointed mayor of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. Passing mention was made of the fact that the Tajik president's son replaced Ubaidulloev, who had been Dushanbe's mayor since 1996.
Ubaidulloev was once considered by many to be one of the most powerful people in Tajikistan, possibly the most powerful for a time.He was occasionally perceived as an enemy of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, and though he was often not loved by the people of Dushanbe, or Tajikistan in general, the fact that he could resist, and even confront Rahmon raised hopes that it could be possible one day to replace the long-time Tajik president.
Ubaidulloev is from Kulob, the same region as President Emomali Rahmon. When Tajikistan became independent in late 1991, Ubaidulloev was the deputy chairman of the Kulob region's executive committee.
After independence, Ubaidulloev quickly rose through the ranks of government. By 1992 he was deputy chairman of the cabinet of ministers, tasked with overseeing the energy ministries.
Tajikistan's civil war had started that same year and at the end of 1992, Rahmon, a little known figure until that time, was named speaker of parliament, which since there was no office of president at the time, made him effectively the head of the government.
In 1994, Rahmon was elected to the reinstated post of president and Ubaidulloev became first deputy prime minister. From 1994 to 1997, Ubaidulloev was part of Tajik government delegations that met at the negotiating table with the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), the government's opponents in the civil war, to try to reach a peace agreement.
Bizarre Incident
Rahmon was barely clinging to power during the civil war years. He was pulled and manipulated by outside powers, first and foremost Russia, which was propping up Rahmon's government during the civil war, but also by Iran and certainly by neighbor Uzbekistan.
In fact, Rahmon's weak hold on power led to Ubaidulloev becoming Dushanbe's mayor.
In February 1996, in one of the more bizarre incidents of the civil war, the commander of one of the government's best-equipped and best-trained units suddenly advanced on Dushanbe making demands for changes in the government.
Colonel Mahmud Khudaiberdiev threatened to attack the capital unless Rahmon sacked several top officials, Ubaidulloev among them. (The others were Prime Minister Jamshed Karimov, presidential chief of staff Izatullo Khayayev, and the head of the Khatlon region, Abduljalil Salimov.)
Rahmon acquiesced, but quickly gave Ubaidulloev the post of chairman, later mayor, of Dushanbe, where he remained until January 12, 2017.
It was during the last years of the 1990s that many felt it was actually Ubaidulloev who was running Tajikistan. He would interrupt when Rahmon was speaking in government sessions or parliament, and in meetings with other government officials he openly criticized Rahmon for being "too soft," or for nepotism and corruption.
The Tajik Peace Accord signed on June 27, 1997, ended open hostilities between the government and the UTO but it did not end the violence.Tajikistan was a dangerous place for several years after the official end of the war.
On February 16, 2000, a car bomb was placed in a vehicle in which Ubaidulloev was traveling. Ubaidulloev survived but the person in the seat in front of him, Deputy Security Minister Shamsullo Jabirov, was killed.
Two months later, on April 17, 2000, the upper house of Tajikistan's parliament, the Majlisi Milli, held its first session and Ubaidulloev was selected Senate chairman, the second highest post in Tajikistan. He still holds that post, for now.
Mixed Legacy
Ubaidulloev is known for being a tough person. His legacy as Dushanbe mayor will probably be mixed for residents of the Tajik capital.
Ubaidulloev expended great efforts on trying to modernize a city that really had not been anything more than a town where there was a bazaar every Monday, until the Soviet Union made Dushanbe into a regional center and later republic capital, though from 1929 to 1961 it was called Stalinabad.
Many buildings and flats were razed make room for modern structures. Often those losing their homes were poorly compensated.
Ubaidulloev also ordered an end to people keeping farm animals in the capital. He came out against women wearing the hijab or other, in his view, foreign Muslim attire. And he led the campaign against playing "loud," usually Western, music in Dushanbe, once branding rap music as "alien to national and universal human values."
With the exception of President Rahmon, Ubaidulloev was the last person from the civil war era to hold a top post in government.
Ubaidulloev will turn 65 on February 1. He is certainly eligible to retire.
But when state television showed footage of Rustam Emomali being officially named Dushanbe's mayor, the look on Ubaidolloev's face spoke volumes about what he was feeling.*
Ubaidulloev is a political survivor and has been for many years. We probably have not heard the last of him even if he is no longer mayor of Tajikistan's capital.
*You can see Ubaidulloev's reaction in this video, from 00:26 to 00:45 seconds. (Ubaidulloev is sitting in the center with Rustam Emomali to his left.)
Iskander Aliev from RFE/RL's Tajik Service, and Salimjon Aioub from RFE/RL's Russian-language Central Asia News service contributed to this report
The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.