Campaign season is under way in Tajikistan. Next month, the country will hold elections for the Majlisi Namoyandagon, the lower house of parliament, and – for the first time – direct elections for local council leaders.

A total of 175 candidates are running for 41 single-mandate seats and another 71 are nominated on party lists for 22 proportional seats within parliament. The People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT), chaired by President Emomali Rahmon, has won large majorities in the two national legislative elections held since the end of the civil war and currently controls 52 seats of the 63-member Majlisi Namoyandagon. Other parties face an uneven playing field, though opposition parties do expect to gain ground this year.

Educating and encouraging voters is an important part of creating a legitimate election process and is especially needed in the lead-up to Tajikistan’s parliamentary and local council (Jamoat) elections in February. Voter apathy has traditionally been a problem in this part of the world. This has a great deal to do with the perception that elections have not progressed much since the days of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, when one party controlled the process and the results. Another factor is that voting is considered the purview of the male heads of households, rather than a universal right of all citizens. Candidates have been known to leverage voter apathy – and the country’s economic deprivation – to their advantage through illicit activities such as vote buying and carousel voting. Besides these issues, it is also especially important to implement a strong voter education program this year because the 2010 election will feature a very large number of first-time voters, young people who have little or no experience in participatory democracy. Including Jamoat elections on the ballot will also be a first for voters.

To help prepare the electorate, IFES is producing a series of public service announcements (PSAs) for television and radio, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe - Tajikistan. The PSAs will start airing in late January and continue up until the elections.

Working with local media specialists, IFES designed each PSA with a different style and message. One PSA portrays a young family arriving at a polling station on Election Day to vote, with focus on voting procedures. Another PSA features a Tajikistani taekwondo world champion encouraging young people to vote. A third PSA features a Tajik mother explaining to her young daughter the importance of Election Day and encouraging women to vote, while a fourth features a cartoon explaining the election process, providing information on “wrong and right” procedures of ballot casting. Additionally, several short radio spots have been produced to be read by newscasters at the beginning and end of regular daily newscasts. Each addresses a different election-related topic, from mobilizing voters and encouraging them not to forsake their votes, to encouraging political accountability and understanding the relevance of elections to the Jamoats.

Though Election Day is close at hand, national election authorities to date have employed a modest approach in informing citizens about the upcoming vote, making IFES’ initiatives all the more critical. In total, approximately 12 PSAs and radio spot announcements are being produced and will be broadcast on three national TV stations and two national radio stations; each will air 2-4 times per day for a 2-3 week period before the vote on February 28. According to national statistics, these broadcasts will reach a majority of households across the country.

The public service announcements are just one component of IFES’ greater strategy to prepare voters for the coming elections. IFES is producing newspaper ads, posters and leaflets intended to motivate and inform voters. Resurrecting an activity that proved successful during the last parliamentary election in 2005, IFES will hold three large-scale Election Fairs in different regions. At the fairs, representatives from each of the eight registered political parties as well as the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) and parliament will staff booths with information about their platforms and the election process, meeting and speaking with voters. This personal contact with constituents remains a novelty in Tajikistan. During previous Election Fairs, nearly 10,000 people attended two such events, a figure IFES expects to build upon this year. The Fairs will be an important avenue for parties and candidates to interact with citizens.

Although the coming vote may well not produce a major power shift in the Majlisi Namoyandagon, the degree to which the ruling establishment will accept alternative and opposition parties such as the Islamic Revival Party and the Social Democratic Party gaining more seats remains to be seen. However, the more educated the electorate is on the elections and the motivated to participate, the less willing they will be to simply accept past electoral practice as a given.