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Tajiks vote for peace
Islamic leader Said Abdullo Nuri: No return to war
Voting has ended in Tajikistan in the first parliamentary elections since the end of the country's five-year civil war.
Despite tight security after a series of bomb blasts in the capital, election officials say at least 87% of the electorate turned out and that the vote passed off peacefully.
In villages around the capital, Dushanbe, people braved the rain and at times snow to go and cast their vote in an election which it is hoped will cement Tajikistan's transition back to peace.
Step forward
As he voted, the leader of the Islamic Revival, Said Abdullo Nuri, hailed the elections as a step forward.
"We hope our country can now move towards greater democracy," he said.
But he added: "We know that there will be falsification and violations."
Nuri headed the Islamist-led forces during the conflict but says now that Tajikistan must not return to war.
After casting his ballot, President Imomali Rakhmonov said: "I voted for peace, unity and nation-building. I hope the new parliament will be a foundation for stable development ... to sweep away the darkness of the last 10 years."
Ruling party's grip
The pro-government party, the People's Democratic Party, is widely expected to have won the day.
With the weight of power behind it, it dominated the campaign.
The 2.8 million electorate has a choice of six parties which for the first time are competing for seats in the lower house of a new two-chamber parliament.
Despite tight security after a series of bomb blasts in the capital, election officials say at least 87% of the electorate turned out and that the vote passed off peacefully.
In villages around the capital, Dushanbe, people braved the rain and at times snow to go and cast their vote in an election which it is hoped will cement Tajikistan's transition back to peace.
Step forward
As he voted, the leader of the Islamic Revival, Said Abdullo Nuri, hailed the elections as a step forward.
"We hope our country can now move towards greater democracy," he said.
But he added: "We know that there will be falsification and violations."
Nuri headed the Islamist-led forces during the conflict but says now that Tajikistan must not return to war.
After casting his ballot, President Imomali Rakhmonov said: "I voted for peace, unity and nation-building. I hope the new parliament will be a foundation for stable development ... to sweep away the darkness of the last 10 years."
Ruling party's grip
The pro-government party, the People's Democratic Party, is widely expected to have won the day.
With the weight of power behind it, it dominated the campaign.
The 2.8 million electorate has a choice of six parties which for the first time are competing for seats in the lower house of a new two-chamber parliament.
 President Rakhmonov won a new seven-year term in November 1999
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The vote is the culmination of the peace process that began two years ago with a power sharing agreement in Moscow between the government and its foes of nearly five years, the mainly Islamic opposition.
Another election, to the upper house of parliament, will be held on 23 March.
When the new parliament sits for the first time in April, the peace agreement is officially at an end.
Ongoing strife
The government ordered security to be tightened following a series of bomb blasts in Dushanbe in the weeks before the election, in which eight people in all died, among them a prominent parliamentary candidate.
Troops were guarding roads leading to Dushanbe.
There are armed groups on both sides who felt left out of the peace deal and while the government has vowed to root them out, until now it has often been powerless to stop them.
The BBC's Louise Hidalgo in Dushanbe says voters are yearning for an end to violence and an opportunity to re-build their lives in a country whose economy has been left in ruins.
However, some are sceptical that these elections will give them that chance.
The government's opponents say the process has been weighted in its favour and that these elections are more about consolidating power.
Observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States - the grouping of former Soviet republics of which Tajikistan is a member - said the voting complied with "international standards".
They said all parties received equal treatment, and that voters were given every chance to make a free choice.
Another election, to the upper house of parliament, will be held on 23 March.
When the new parliament sits for the first time in April, the peace agreement is officially at an end.
Ongoing strife
The government ordered security to be tightened following a series of bomb blasts in Dushanbe in the weeks before the election, in which eight people in all died, among them a prominent parliamentary candidate.
Troops were guarding roads leading to Dushanbe.
There are armed groups on both sides who felt left out of the peace deal and while the government has vowed to root them out, until now it has often been powerless to stop them.
The BBC's Louise Hidalgo in Dushanbe says voters are yearning for an end to violence and an opportunity to re-build their lives in a country whose economy has been left in ruins.
However, some are sceptical that these elections will give them that chance.
The government's opponents say the process has been weighted in its favour and that these elections are more about consolidating power.
Observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States - the grouping of former Soviet republics of which Tajikistan is a member - said the voting complied with "international standards".
They said all parties received equal treatment, and that voters were given every chance to make a free choice.
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