Imamali Rakhmonov

Imamali Rakhmonov, born in 1952, Tajik political leader, who became chairman of Tajikistan’s Supreme Soviet during the country’s civil war, which lasted from 1992 to 1997, and then president in 1994.

Rakhmonov, a close ally of former president Rakhmon Nabiyev, was instrumental in the pro-Communist effort to oust Islamic-democratic rebels from Dushanbe, the country’s capital. He led military forces from Kŭlob Oblast, which is located in the southern part of the republic, and he supported the intervention of military forces from other former Soviet republics. When Nabiyev was deposed by rebels at gunpoint in 1992, the presidency was abolished, and the Supreme Soviet chairmanship became the highest office in the country. A few months after Nabiyev’s removal, Rakhmonov was elected Supreme Soviet chairman.

One of Rakhmonov’s principal goals of office was to stem the flight of Russians and other non-Tajiks from the country. He made an appeal to minority citizens to remain in Tajikistan, and he warned that their departure would result in the country’s economic collapse. After Dushanbe was retaken, Rakhmonov publicly thanked Uzbek president Islam Karimov for his assistance in restoring a pro-Communist regime. In 1994 the presidency was restored and Rakhmonov was elected president. Negotiations toward ending the civil war began in 1994, and in 1997 Rakhmonov signed a peace agreement with the leader of the Islamic opposition. Rakhmonov agreed to legalize opposition parties and to appoint opposition leaders to some high-level government posts. However, he kept a firm grip on power, and his party, the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT), dominated the legislature. Rakhmonov was reelected president in 1999 and 2006 in basically uncontested elections that were marred by widespread voting irregularities. Constitutional amendments approved by popular referendum in 2003 exempted Rakhmonov from a two-term limit, allowing him to stand for two additional terms after the expiration of his second term in 2006.