More than 90% of Tajiks vote to double presidential term

Results of a Sunday referendum showed that the majority of Tajiks support the idea of doubling the seven-year presidential term.

According to preliminary information, this and other amendments to the Tajik Constitution were supported by 2,661,250 people, or 93.13% of the voters, the republic's Central Electoral Commission reported on Monday morning.

6.13%, or 175,246 people, voted against the amendments.

The total turnout was 2,857,685 people, or 96.39% of the republic's electorate.

The amendments to the Constitution are 56 in number and include two that double the judges' five-year term of office and make people pay for medical services and education.

According to the results, the republic's current President Emomali Rakhmonov gets a right to occupy his post until 2020, providing he wins the next elections. Rakhmonov's current term of office expires in 2006.