Rustam Emomali . Photo from Ozodi.org
Tajik president Emomali Rahmon’s eldest son, Rustam Emomali, has been elected to the Majlisi Milli, the country’s upper chamber of parliament, Asia-Plus reports (in Russian). Rustam Emomali is currently serving as mayor of Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.
Senate elections were held at the first joint session of municipal and district majlises (councils) of people’s deputies in Dushanbe. Emomali’s candidacy received unanimous support. The deputies also elected a number of other individuals to the senate: the rectors of the Tajik Technical University and the Tajik Medical University, the dean of the Tajik National University’s faculty of law, and the head of the central Dushanbe Ismoili Somoni district’s education department.
The Tajik Majlisi Milli is composed of 33 members. 25 of them are elected by secret ballot by regional council deputies, and the remaining 8 are appointed directly by the president. Former presidents automatically become senators but may waive this privilege.
Experts are of the opinion that Rustam Emomali could soon be promoted to the position of senate speaker. This would make him the second most important figure in the country after his father, the president, and in the case of the latter’s death or illness allow him to take up his post.
The eldest son of Tajik president Emomali Rahmon, Rustam Emomali has been mayor of Dushanbe since January 2017. Prior to this, he headed the country’s Agency for State Financial Control and Combatting Corruption. He is currently 32 years old. In 2016, an amendment was made to the Tajik constitution, lowering the minimum age for presidential candidates from 35 to 30. This would allow the new senator to compete in the next presidential elections, scheduled for November of this year.
