DUSHANBE. Sept 26 (Interfax) - The Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) of Tajikistan is meant to represent moderate Islam throughout the CIS and the rest of the world, its chairman Muhiddin Kabiri announced on Monday.
He said IRP has ceased to be a party of only his own republic, but is winning sympathies among the labor immigrants working in Russia.
Last Saturday, a congress of IRP elected Kabiri party chairman for another four-year term.
"Our party is no longer a party of some one country and it does not belong only to you and me. People in other regions and in the world rely on us," he said at a press conference.
Polling stations are opened at Tajik consulates in Russian cities during Tajik presidential and parliamentary elections for about one million Tajik labor immigrants in Russia. However, only a group of them comes to cast their ballots, therefore their votes usually do not have any significant impact on the general outcome of elections.
For the past two years, Kabiri has been actively visiting Tajik expatriates living in Russian cities, winning certain popularity among them. Many analysts in Tajikistan believe that by 2015 many labor immigrants may vote for IRP in the parliamentary elections.
IRP of Tajikistan is the only legally functioning Islamic party in the former Soviet union. During the 1992-1997 civil war in Tajikistan, it was the motive force of the United Tajik Opposition that fought against the Popular Front, which brought incumbent president Emomali Rahmon to power.
IRP holds two out of 63 seats in the lower house of parliament.
IRP has over 40,000 members and remains the only opposition party represented in the Tajik parliament.