Tajikistan - Political parties

As part of the ongoing peace process, all parties had to undergo re-registration by March 1999. The parties registered at that time were the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Communist Party (TCP), the Party of Justice and Progress, Socialist Party, the Democratic Party ("Tehran platform"), Agrarian Party, and the Party of Justice and Accord. The main opposition parties were registered later. In late 1994, Rakhmanov orchestrated the creation of the PDP, and in April 1998 became its head. The TCP is headed by former Rakhmanov client Shodi Shabdolov. The TCP has fallen into Rakhmanov's disfavor, and some of its assets were nationalized in May 1998. A social democratic Party of Justice and Progress was formed by intellectuals and others in April 1998. The Democratic Party, founded in 1990, was banned in 1993. It split in 1994, with one new group forming the "Tehran platform." The remaining wing ("Almaty platform") was reregistered in December 1999. The main parties of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) are the Democratic Party (Almaty platform) and the Islamic Rebirth Movement (primarily the Islamic Renaissance Party, IRP). The Society of Lali Badakhshan split from the UTO in 1999. The IRP was registered in September 1999. The IRP has traditionally drawn its strength from many unofficial (as opposed to state-sponsored) Islamic clerics. Emboldened by international support for Tajikistan's role in aiding the US-led coalition in its war against terrorism beginning in 2001, Rakhmanov has implied that connections exist between the IRP and the radical Islamic organizations Hizbut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The IRP has vigorously denied any connections to these groups.