On the eve of the referendum on introducing amendments and alterations into the Basic Law of the country our correspondent met with the USA ambassador to Tajikistan Franklin Huddle and spoke with him about the oncoming referendum.
- Mr. Ambassador, what’s Your opinion about RT Constitution and does it conform with democratic principles and norms?
- Constitution, as the basic law of any country, is a live and dynamic document. In a democratic society any alterations bound to be introduced into this document ought to be done extremely attentively and all layers of society should take part in it. One may say, this process was open not by 100%.
- Where are the primary reasons of alterations and addenda bound to be introduced into the Constitution of Tajikistan Republic and what would the consequences be, to Your mind?
- The question raised should sound not as “why” but as “how”. Discussion of tenure terms in reference to any officially elected person occupying a certain position is natural for society. Nonetheless, the process should be open, for debates taking into consideration all viewpoints. The particulars of these issues may be less important, as the Constitution of the country reflects the will of the people, hereby, official politicians mustn’t seek for the ways of finding loopholes in the law.
At the same time it is of importance that political parties and other groups of society spoke out their opinion on referendum in a free manner and their pronouncements were elucidated in mass media.
- Mr. Ambassador! What amendments to the Constitution are the most actual from Your point of view?
- It turns out that in Tajikistan it makes no difference what amendment is the most important one, as all 56 amendments have been heaped to make the only choice. Things go in such a way that a voter can’t express his certain agreement or disagreement with this or that amendment., as citizens are not entitled to voting on separate amendments. Such a situation deprives a citizen of a right to influence a certain amendment.
- Mr. Ambassador! What’s Your attitude to tajikistantimes.com site being blocked on the eve of referendum?
- In a democratic society it is important that multifarious views and outlooks were expressed. Of course, it would be unpleasant when population’s access to any information is limited. We hope this question will be settled in the nearest time.
- Will observers from the USA be present at the referendum?
- We don’t plan to send an official delegation of observers; on the part of ours there will be only a usual monitoring over the local political air conducted by the embassy. From our point of view a ballot format - the only answer “yes” or “no” to all 56 questions - will shape a situation when it would be no easy matter to understand the will of the people. We hope that the government will conduct a referendum in conformity with international standards, we expect all political parties and citizens concerned to take an active part in voting and votes counting. After all, we believe that our productive and warm relations with Tajikistan and its President Emomali Rahmonov will be going on.
- Great thanks for the conversation!