Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov (born October 5, 1952) has been the President of Tajikistan since 1994 (and the head of state since 1992).

He was born to a peasant family in Dangara, in Koolyab (Kuljab) province. His original power base was as chairman of the collective state farm of his native Dangara, and in 1990 he was elected people's deputy of the Supreme Council of the Tajik SSR. He was confirmed by re-election as chairman of the Supreme Council of an independent Tajikistan in 1992, after the resignation of the pro-Communist Rahman Nabiyev.

On November 6, 1994, Rahmonov was elected to the newly created post of president of Tajikistan, and he was sworn in on November 16. Following constitutional changes, he was re-elected on November 6, 1999 to a seven-year term, taking 97% of the vote. On June 22, 2003, he won a referendum that would allow him to run for two more consecutive seven-year terms after his present term expires in 2006. The opposition alleges that this amendment was hidden in a way that verged upon electoral fraud.

The executive arm of the government is supplemented by a Security Council and five Advisors.

Rahmonov survived an assassination attempt in April 1997 in Hujand, as well as two attempted coups in August 1997 and in November 1998. Although he went on hajj to Mecca in June 1997, he was deeply influenced by the Gathas of Zoroaster as a young man. Rahmonov convinced UNESCO to declare 2002-2003 the third millennium since Zoroaster's birth, and in his book, The Tajiks in the Mirror of History, he claimed that Zoroaster was a Tajik from Bactria. In this book, Rahmonov also wrote:

"Many principles of the Zarathushtrian religion have left a deep imprint on the [Tajik] people's mind. The habit has been preserved prohibiting the killing of animals when they are pregnant and the cutting of trees in blossom. Water, earth and fire have to be protected from any impurity. The fumes of some fragrant herbs are still used to keep away sickness and the force of evil.

These and many other examples give evidence that in every Tajik house we may find trace of Zarathushtra's teachings.

Let us hope in the new millennium, the Tajik people will continue to live under the spiritual guidance of Zarathushtra, the prophet of truth and light."

The book gives some background to his political ideology. He is married to Azizmo Asadullaeva and has nine children.

External links

• Semi-official biography (http://www.internews.ru/ASIA-PLUS/bulletin_61/10.html)
• excerpt concerning Zoroaster from Rahmonov's The Tajiks In The Mirror of History (http://www.ahura.homestead.com/files/IranZaminEight/Emomali_Rahmonov2.htm)

de:Emomali Rachmonow ja:エモマリ・ラフモノフ pl:Emomali Rachmonow