DUSHANBE (TCA) — Tajikistan on July 12 released a book of President Emomali Rahmon’s wit and wisdom, thus extending the strongman leader’s personality cult in the Central Asian nation, RFE/RL reported.
Rahmon, a secular ruler who has been Tajikistan’s head of state for a quarter of a century, was designated Leader of the Nation title by the country’s rubber stamp parliament in 2015.
The following year the country passed constitutional changes that granted him the exclusive right to run for office repeatedly.
The 464-page book — entitled Wise Thoughts and Sayings of the President of Tajikistan, Founder of Peace and National Unity — will be available electronically on the national library’s website, said senior advisor Zafar Saidzod.
A Russian translation is also planned.
Among the topics covered in a first print run of 500 copies are Rahmon’s thoughts on peace, independence, history, and women.
“National statehood, with all its attributes and symbols should take root in the mind and soul of every Tajik woman and be passed on from generation to generation through a mother’s milk,” one quote reads.
Government propaganda portrays Rahmon as a savior who brought peace to Tajikistan following a five-year civil war that began shortly after independence from the Soviet Union, but critics accuse his regime of systematic rights abuses.
