Rakhmonov, Imamali

Rakhmonov, Imamali (1952- ), Tajik political leader and President of Tajikistan (1994- ).

Born in Dangara, Rakhmonov was educated at Tajik University, and later worked as an electrician and salesman. After joining a trade union, he became a Communist Party member, and by 1988 was a local official in the Dangar region. A close ally of former president Rakhman Nabiyev, he was instrumental in the pro-Communist effort to oust Islamic-democratic rebels from Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. He led military forces from Kŭlob Oblast (region) located in the southern part of the republic, and he supported the intervention of military forces from other Soviet republics. When Nabiyev was deposed by rebels at gunpoint in 1992, the presidency was abolished, and the Supreme Soviet chairmanship became the highest office in the country. A few months after Nabiyev’s removal, Rakhmonov was elected Supreme Soviet chairman.

One of Rakhmonov’s principal goals of office was to stem the flight of Russians and other non-Tajiks from the republic. He made an appeal to minority citizens to remain in the country, and warned that their departure would result in the country’s economic collapse. After Dushanbe was retaken, Rakhmonov publicly thanked Uzbek president Islam Karimov for his assistance in restoring a pro-Communist regime. In 1993 Rakhmonov attended a meeting hosted by Karimov at which the heads of state of the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia laid the foundation for a Central Asian commonwealth. In 1994 a referendum approved a new constitution reinstating the presidency, and a simultaneous election secured it for Rakhmonov; democratic and Islamic opposition groups boycotted the poll. Subsequently, Rakhmonov banned these groups and exiled their leaders, while retaining Russian troops in Tajikistan for support against Islamic rebels. In February 1996 he replaced his prime minister after the rebels captured two southern towns. In June Rakhmonov established a consultative Presidential Council of politicians and other prominent figures to help stabilize the country. A United Nations-brokered peace agreement in July 1996 collapsed the following month. A ceasefire and fresh agreement in December formally ended the civil conflict in Tajikistan, but did not end strife within the country. In February 1997 Rakhmonov personally negotiated the release of Western hostages being held by a local warlord in eastern Tajikistan. In April 1997 he was injured in an abortive grenade attack. In June 1997 Rakhmonov signed a United Nations-brokered peace agreement with rebel forces which ended the civil war in Tajikistan. In November 1999 he won a second term in office, after an election that observers described as undemocratic and that had threatened to derail the peace process after the Islamic opposition suspended its participation. However, on the eve of the election, Islamic leader Said Abdullo Nuri agreed to respect the election result. The official end of the peace process came with the multi-party parliamentary elections in March 2001, in which Rakhmonov’s People’s Democratic Party won 65 per cent of the vote.

In response to an appeal in June by Rakhmonov for international aid to combat the worst drought in 70 years, the UN announced a 2-year food programme. In July the president hosted the “Shanghai Five” summit in Dushanbe. An agreement to build a university focusing on the needs of mountain societies in Khorog was signed by the Aga Khan and Rakhmonov in August.