Tajikistan Referendum to Change Presidential Term Limits

Citizens of Tajikistan participated in a referendum on Sunday, May 22, which, if passed, would allow the current president, Emomali Rahmon, to run for an unlimited number of presidential terms. According to the latest reports, nearly three million nine hundred thousand people, constituting 88 percent of eligible voters, had participated in the referendum by 8 PM local time on Sunday, casting their votes on the new constitutional amendment. The Tajikistan Election Commission announced that four million people from the country's population of over eight million are eligible to vote in the current election. The new constitutional amendment allows the current president, Emomali Rahmon, to run for an unlimited number of presidential terms. Currently, the presidential term in Tajikistan is seven years, and the president can serve for two terms. Rahmon's second seven-year term will end in 2020. However, Rahmon, who has held power in this Central Asian country since 1994, previously served two five-year terms from 1994 to 2004 before his current two seven-year terms. Another change in the new amendment is the reduction of the minimum age for presidential candidates from 35 to 30 years, which could pave the way for Rahmon's son to run in the 2020 presidential elections. The current constitution of Tajikistan has been in effect since 1994 but has been amended twice, including an amendment in 2003 that extended the presidential term from five years to seven years. At that time, Rahmon, who was at the end of his second presidential term, gained the opportunity to serve two more terms under the new presidential schedule. In the current referendum, voters were only faced with the question of whether they accept the constitutional amendment or not. The results of this referendum are expected to be announced on Tuesday morning local time.