The People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan is a political party in Tajikistan. It is currently the ruling political party in Tajikistan. It is the largest political party in the country, the so-called "party of power". Members of the PDPT occupy 51 seats out of 63 in the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan — the parliament of Tajikistan. Since April 1998, the leader of the party has been the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon. The party is located in the Kohi Vahdat, which is located on Rudaki Avenue, in the center of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. The party organizing committee was established in 1993, and the party itself was established on 10 December 1994 by the then first deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Tajikistan, Abdulmajid Dostiyev. Until April 1998, it was called the People's Party of Tajikistan. The party has its branches in all regions and largest settlements of Tajikistan. The youth wing of the party is called the Sozandagoni Vatan. The party stands for a secular state and society and is considered secularist with elements of statism, anticlericalism, national conservatism and Tajiknationalism. According to the party's charter, the PDPT is aimed at creating a "sovereign, democratic, secular, socially oriented and unitary state with a stable economy". The statute also refers to "hopes for improving the well-being of society, protecting the interests of citizens, regardless of their social status, nationality or religious preferences". The party participated for the first time in the parliamentary elections in 1995. As a result of the elections, the People's Party of Tajikistan received five seats in the country's parliament, becoming the second party of the republican parliament after the Communist Party of Tajikistan, which received 60 seats. In March 1998, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmonov, joined the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan, and in April of the same year he was elected chairman of the party. In the 1999 presidential election, Rahmonov was nominated as a presidential candidate by the PDPT. Following the election results, Rahmonov became the president of Tajikistan for the second time, gaining 97.6% of the vote. As a result of the parliamentary elections in 2000, the PDPT won 36 of the 63 seats in the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan, the country's parliament, thus becoming the ruling party in Tajikistan. The former ruling party of the country — the Communist Party of Tajikistan — was able to get only 13 seats, taking second place. The parliamentary elections of 2005 also became successful for the PDPT, as the party was able to get 49 seats out of 63 and retain the title of the ruling party, having occupied 64.5% of seats in parliament. In the 2006 presidential election, Emomali Rahmonov was also nominated as the candidate for the PDPT. As a result of the election, Rahmonov again became president of the country, gaining 79.3% of the vote. The 2010 parliamentary elections became the most successful in the history for the PDPT, as the party won a record 55 seats out of 63 in the Majlisi Oli. In the most recent Tajikistan presidential election in 2013, the incumbent Tajik president Emomali Rahmon was again nominated by the PDPT. Following the election, Rahmon won 83.9% of the vote and again became president of Tajikistan. In the most recent Tajikistan parliamentary elections in 2015, the party was able to get 51 seats out of 63 in the country's parliament, retaining the status of the ruling party.
The party newspaper of the PDPT is Minbari Khalq, published in Tajik, Russian and Uzbek languages twice a week, with a circulation of approximately 30,000 copies. Additionally, the party publishes socio-political magazines, including Mehvar and other magazines.
