Emomali Rahmon

Rahmon was born as Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmonov to Sharif Rahmonov (c. 1912–1992) and Mayram Sharifova (1910–2004), a Peasant family in Danghara, Kulob Oblast (present-day Khatlon Region).

His father was a Red Army veteran of World War II, being a recipient of the Order of Glory in the 2nd and 3rd degrees.

Emomali Rahmon (born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov, Эмомалӣ Шарипович Раҳмонов; ; 5 October 1952) is a Tajik politician who has been serving as 3rd President of Tajikistan since 16 November 1994.

From 1971-74, Rahmon served in the Soviet Union's Pacific Fleet, during which he was stationed in the Primorsky Krai.

After completing military service, Rahmon returned to his native village where he worked for some time as an electrician.

As a rising apparatchik in Tajikistan, he became a chairman of the collective state farm of his native Danghara.

According to his official biography, Rahmon graduated from the Tajik State National University with a specialist's degree in economics in 1982.

After working for several years in the Danghara Sovkhoz, Rahmon was appointed chairman of the sovkhoz in 1987.

In 1990, Rahmon was elected a people's deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik SSR.

Previously he was the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan, as the de facto head of state from 20 November 1992 to 16 November 1994 (the post of president was temporarily abolished during this period).

He became widely known in 1992 after the abolition of the post of president in the country, when at the dawn of the civil war (1992–1997) he became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Parliament) of Tajikistan as a compromise candidate between communists and neo-communists on the one hand and liberal-democratic, nationalist and Islamist forces (the United Tajik Opposition) on the other.

President Rahmon Nabiyev was forced to resign in the first months of the Civil War in August 1992.

Akbarsho Iskandrov, Speaker of the Supreme Soviet, became acting president.

Iskandarov resigned in November 1992 in an attempt to end the civil unrest.

During the civil war that lasted from 1992 to 1997, Rahmon's rule was opposed by the United Tajik Opposition.

As many as 100,000 people died during the war.

Five times (in the elections of 1994, 1999, 2006, 2013 and 2020), Rahmon won undemocratic presidential elections; in addition, he extended and reformed his powers based on the results of the national constitutional referendums of 1999 and 2003.

In 1994, a new constitution reestablished the presidency.

Rahmon was elected to the post on 6 November 1994 and sworn in ten days later.

He survived an assassination attempt on 30 April 1997 in Khujand, as well as two attempted coups in August 1997 and in November 1998.

Since 18 March 1998, he has also served as the leader of the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan, which dominates the Parliament of Tajikistan.

On 30 September 1999, he was elected vice-president of the UN General Assembly for a one-year term.

Following constitutional changes, he was reelected on 6 November 1999 to a seven-year term, officially taking 97% of the vote.

On 22 June 2003, he won a referendum that would allow him to run for two more consecutive seven-year terms after his term expired in 2006.

The opposition alleges that this amendment was hidden in a way that verged upon electoral fraud.

Rahmon was reelected to a seven-year term in a controversial election on 6 November 2006, with about 79% of the vote, according to the official results.

On 6 November 2013, he was reelected for the second seven-year term in office, with about 84% of the vote, in an election that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said lacked "genuine choice and meaningful pluralism".

Since 25 December 2015, Emomali Rahmon has held the lifetime title of Peshvoyi Millat (Пешвои Миллат), which means “Leader of the Nation”, in full — “Founder of peace and national Unity — Leader of the Nation”.

Following the results of the last national constitutional referendum in 2016, amendments were adopted that lifted the restrictions on the number of re-elections to the post of President of Tajikistan and lowered the age limit for those running for the post of president from 35 to 30 years.

Rahmon heads an authoritarian regime in Tajikistan with elements of a cult of personality.

Political opponents are repressed, violations of human rights and freedoms are severe, elections are not free and fair, and corruption and nepotism are rampant.

Various important government positions are occupied by his family members, such as his 35-year-old son Rustam Emomali, who is the chairman of the country's parliament and the mayor of its capital city, Dushanbe.

That same month, the Supreme Soviet met in Khujand for its 16th session and declared Tajikistan a parliamentary republic.

Rahmon was then elected by the members of the Supreme Soviet as its chairman—as the Parliamentary republican system adopted by Tajikistan did not provide for a ceremonial president, he was also Head of State—and the head of government.

Former Interior Minister Yaqub Salimov later recalled that Rahmon's appointment was made because he was "nondescript", in which other field commanders thought that he could be cast aside "when he had served his purpose."

On 22 May 2016, a nationwide referendum approved a number of changes to the country's constitution.

One of the main changes lifted the limit on presidential terms, effectively allowing Rahmon to stay in power for as many terms as he wishes.

Other key changes outlawed faith-based political parties, thus finalizing the removal of the outlawed Islamic Revival Party from Tajikistan's politics, and reduced the minimum eligibility age for presidential candidates from 35 to 30, enabling Rahmon's older son, Rustam Emomali, to run for president any time after 2017.

In January 2017, Rustam Emomali was appointed Mayor of Dushanbe, a key position, which some analysts see as the next step to the top of the government.

In October 2020, he was once again re-elected as president for a fifth term with a margin of 90.92%, amid allegations of fraud.