DUSHANBE (TCA) — Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon’s third daughter, Rukhshona Rakhmonova, has become a deputy department head at the country’s Foreign Ministry, the latest in a series of appointments of Rakhmon’s close relatives to government positions, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.
Little is known about Rakhmonova, who is one of Rakhmon’s nine children.
A source at the Foreign Ministry told RFE/RL on November 25 that Rakhmonova was appointed the deputy head of the ministry’s international organizations department “some 10 days ago,” but it had not been publicly announced.
The source described Rakhmonova as an experienced diplomat who had previously worked at Tajikistan’s embassy in London.
In January, another of Rakhmon’s daughters, Ozoda Rakhmon, was appointed the president’s chief of staff. Ozoda Rakhmon had previously served as the first deputy foreign minister.
Rakhmon’s eldest son, Rustam Emomali, was appointed as head of the state anticorruption agency last year, after running the Customs Service since 2013.
Several other close relatives of Rakhmon occupy important official positions or control lucrative businesses.
Rakhmon has been ruling Tajikistan since 1992, tolerating little dissent and suppressing his opponents and critics.
In May, a nationwide referendum approved amendments to the country’s Constitution that strengthened Rakhmon’s grip on power.
The most important amendments included eliminating the term limit for Rakhmon, lowering the age of eligibility to become president, and banning the creation of faith-based political parties.
The term-limit amendment would apply only to Rakhmon, owing to the “Leader of the Nation” status the parliament voted to grant him last year, which also affords him and his family permanent immunity from criminal prosecution.
The amendments also lowered the presidential age limit from 35 to 30 — a change that could position Rakhmon’s 29-year-old son, Rustam Emomali, for an early succession.
