The third week at a running already there continues the discussion of the Project on alterations and addenda bound to be introduced into the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan. If you take only a cursory glance everything may seem to be going smoothly, as they say, just as it is supposed to. But in its essence, against the background of this grave political campaign there are a lot of disguised drawbacks. However many political arrangements of this sort there are or organized in the republic, still we haven’t learned yet to do it in a civilized manner. Due to the negligence of legislative and executive powers of the republic up to now even the text of the Project on alterations and addenda has not been available for all the members of the society. This instantaneous approach results into a retroactive effect. The low level of informativity brought the population all over the republic into the state of indifference, unawareness, political passiveness.
When such important political events occur in the life of the society these are statal MM that are supposed to manifest themselves. We mean those printed editions, which published the text of the Project on alterations and addenda on their pages. But the small circulation of republican, viloyat, urban and district newspapers is insufficient in order people had a clear idea about the essence and importance of a forthcoming referendum. When no daily newspaper is published in the republic and the circulation of weekly papers hardly makes up 160 thousand copies it is very difficult to speak on the population being provided with printed editions.
Today the electorate of the country must know for what they vote, and therefore the situation shaped requires an urgent decision on a reiterated publication in periodical press and edition of special brochures and placards in wide circulation. In other words, this decision should be aimed at bringing to the notice of every citizen the importance and actuality of the alterations and addenda bound to be discussed by the entire nation. Boring telecasts of low quality add to these shortcomings. For today except “Round Table Talk” out colleagues don’t use any other genres, which would more or less, promote public opinion formation. In the given case we mean word freedom in out country which enables everyone to deliver of his/her opinion on the issue. Unilateral telecasts dwelling on such themes will bring no good. To put it otherwise, this style of work alienates TV watchers from such telecasts and they switch over other channels. It’s high time the telecast of mass character were organized with the participation of lawyers, politiologists, economists, sociologists and common citizens having different points of view on this question. Sociological explorations and the study of social opinion on the forthcoming law reform are useful not only for electronic MM work, but for the society upon the whole. In this aspect independent MM may put a weighty contribution, but regretfully, they can’t ever regulate their work with State structures. State officials arrange ceremonies of agitation character on an old paragon going counter to viable collaboration. It’s no wonder that among those whose work is to explicate the essence of the Project to the population it is difficult to find literate jurists. The practice shows that many Hukumat employees in towns and districts need being taught themselves in the law. Can meetings with such “modern lecturers” be of any use? At one of such meetings citizens raised a question on Tajik immigrants’ participation in the oncoming referendum. Unfortunately, they didn’t hear a competent answer, which would be uttered by the “propagandizer”. But the problem is of State importance. It’s no secret that today over a million of the population of our republic are beyond its boundaries making their living. Whatever may be said, they are our citizens and they are entitled to the right to participate in such a large-scale political drive the future development of Tajikistan depends on. By the way this issue distributes not only common citizens but MM workers, first and foremost. To put it briefly, in order to have an authentic answer to the question the fate of the forthcoming referendum depends on the citizens of the republic need in a direct meeting with the first persons of the State, with the jurists of high qualification, such as Ashurboy Imomov, Khalifabobo Homidov, Bobojohn Bobokhonov, Shavkat Ismoilov, Shermuhammad Shoyev, Soliboy Hasanov, Salimboy Khatfulloyev.
There is time still to redeem our errors. At the same time the first responses show pluralism of opinions on the part of political parties and social movements, but as for the people, alas, due to the abovementioned reasons it has been keeping silence for the time being.