2006 Tajik presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Tajikistan on 6 November 2006. The result was a victory for incumbent President Emomali Rakhmonov, who won a third term in office after receiving 79% of the vote.

Candidates

Five candidates contested the elections:

• Emomali Rahmonov — the incumbent, and a member of the dominant People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan. Constitutional provisions which would bar Rahmonov from seeking further terms have been controversially removed.
• Abduhalim Ghafforov — registered as representing the Socialist Party, although this is not the original Socialist Party — that party has been denied registration.
• Amir Qoraqulov — Agrarian Party.
• Olimjon Boboyev — Party of Economic Reforms.
• Ismoil Talbakov — Communist Party of Tajikistan.

The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, the Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party all boycotted the elections, criticising the country's electoral apparatus as unreliable and refusing to accept the constitutional changes that allowed Rakhmanov to seek a third term.

Campaign

A rally by opposition parties was broken up. According to the BBC, none of the four candidates opposing Rahmonov have publicly criticised him, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said that "[n]o signs of a competitive campaign have been observed thus far"

Conduct

CIS election monitors declared the elections "legal, free and transparent", while the OSCE condemned them, and the election has been called "flawed and unfair but peaceful."

Results

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Emomalii Rahmon	People's Democratic Party	2,419,192	79.3
Olimzhon Boboyev	Party of Economic Reform	190,148	6.2
Amir Qoraqulov	Agrarian Party	156,991	5.2
Ismoil Talbakov	Communist Party	159,493	5.2
Abduhalim Ghafforov	Socialist Party	85,295	2.8
Invalid/blank votes		39,529	–
Total		3,054,573	100
Registered voters/turnout		3,356,221	90.9
Source: Adam Carr