DUSHANBE (TCA) – The People’s Democratic Party led by Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmanov, which currently controls 55 of the 63 seats in the Tajik parliament, has won 65% of votes in the country’s parliamentary election held on March 1.

Nearly 300 candidates from eight political parties contested for 63 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Majlisi Namoyandagon. The Central Election Commission of Tajikistan today announced preliminary results of the election.

The Commission said that more than 3.7 million or 87.7% of registered voters had cast a ballot.

The People’s Democratic Party won 65.2% of the votes, the Agrarian Party 11.8%, the Party of Economic Reforms 7.6%, the Socialist Party 5.5%, the Communist Party 2.3%, the Democratic Party 1.7%, the Islamic Revival Party 1.5% and the Social Democratic Party 0.5% percent.

It means that the People’s Democratic Party, Agrarian Party, Party of Economic Reforms and Socialist Party have overcome the 5% threshold and won seats in the new parliament.

The main political rival of the ruling party – the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) – which is the only officially registered Islamic party in Central Asia, has remained without parliamentary seats. The IRPT and the Social Democratic Party are vocal critics of the government, while other parties describe themselves as constructive opposition and openly support government policies.