The overwhelming political dominance of President Imomali Rakhmonov's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) ensured it an easy victory in the February 2005 parliamentary elections. Throughout the year, the government continued to consolidate its power by clamping down on the media and working to sideline perceived and actual political rivals. Meanwhile, Russia strengthened its foothold in the region following Dushanbe's ratification of a bilateral agreement on a number of strategic and economic matters, including the establishment of a permanent Russian military base in Tajikistan.

Conquered by Russia in the late 1800s, Tajikistan was made an autonomous region within Uzbekistan in 1924 and a separate socialist republic of the USSR in 1929. Tajikistan declared independence from the Soviet Union in September 1991, and two months later, former Communist Party leader Rakhman Nabiyev was elected president.

Long-simmering, clan-based tensions, combined with various anti-Communist and Islamist movements, soon plunged the country into a five-year civil war for central government control. In September 1992, Communist hard-liners forced Nabiyev's resignation; he was replaced later that year by Imomali Rakhmonov, a leading Communist Party member. The following month, Rakhmonov launched attacks against antigovernment forces that caused tens of thousands to flee into neighboring Afghanistan.

As the fighting continued, Rakhmonov was elected president in November 1994 after most opposition candidates either boycotted or were prevented from competing in the poll. The March 1995 parliamentary elections, in which the majority of seats were won by progovernment candidates, were boycotted by the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), a coalition of various secular and Islamic opposition groups that emerged during the war as the main opposition force fighting against Rakhmonov's government.

Following a December 1996 ceasefire, Rakhmonov and UTO leader Said Abdullo Nuri signed a formal peace agreement in Moscow on June 27, 1997, officially ending the civil war, which had claimed tens of thousands of lives and left several hundred thousand as refugees. The accord called for the merger of opposition forces into the regular army; granted an amnesty for UTO members; provided for the UTO to be allotted 30 percent of senior government posts; and established a 26-member National Reconciliation Commission, with seats evenly divided between the government and the UTO. The commission was charged with implementing the peace agreements, including preparing amendments for a referendum on constitutional changes that would lead to fair parliamentary elections.

During the next two years, the government and the UTO took steps toward implementing the peace accord. In a September 1999 referendum, voters approved a series of constitutional amendments permitting the formation of religion-based political parties. This move paved the way for the legal operation of the Islamic opposition, including the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), which constituted the backbone of the UTO. The referendum also included an amendment extending the president's single term in office from five to seven years. In November, Rakhmonov was reelected with a reported 97 percent of the vote in a poll criticized by international election observers for widespread irregularities.

As the final stage in the implementation of the 1997 peace accord, Tajikistan held elections in February 2000 for the 63-seat lower house of parliament. Rakhmonov's People's Democratic Party (PDP)-which he joined in 1998-received nearly 65 percent of the vote, followed by the Communist Party with 20 percent, and the IRP with 7 percent. Although the participation of six parties and a number of independent candidates in the poll provided some political pluralism, international election observers, including a joint mission by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations, cited serious problems, including the exclusion of certain opposition parties, biased state media coverage, and a lack of transparency in the tabulation of votes. In the March elections to the 33-seat upper house of parliament, in which local assemblies elected 25 members and Rakhmonov appointed the remaining eight, the PDP obtained the overwhelming majority of seats.

After the elections, the National Reconciliation Commission was formally disbanded, and a UN observer mission withdrew in May 2000 after nearly six years in Tajikistan. However, important provisions of the peace accord remained unimplemented, with demobilization of opposition factions incomplete and the government failing to meet the 30 percent quota of senior government posts to be awarded to the UTO.

Rakhmonov's already substantial powers as president were further consolidated in a June 22, 2003, constitutional referendum. Voters approved by a reported 93 percent a package of 56 constitutional amendments, the most controversial of which permits the president to serve two additional seven-year terms beyond the next presidential election in 2006. (The constitution previously limited the president to a single seven-year term.) Rakhmonov, who argued that this change would better reflect post- civil war circumstances and bring the country continued stability, could theoretically remain in office until 2020. Critics charged that most voters were not fully aware of the proposed changes, which were not printed on the ballot papers and had not been given much media coverage. The opposition Democratic Party (DP) urged its supporters to boycott the vote, while the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the IRP adopted less openly confrontational positions.

With parliamentary elections due in February 2005 and presidential elections a year later, the government increased its pressure on opposition figures and other perceived potential challengers to the president's power. The authorities targeted former Rakhmonov allies, including Drug Control Agency head Ghaffor Mirzoyev, who was arrested in August 2004 on numerous criminal charges, including murder. In December, DP leader Mahmudi Iskandarov was arrested in Moscow after Tajik authorities issued a warrant for his extradition on criminal charges. After Russian authorities released him in April 2005, Iskandarov was apparently abducted and forcibly repatriated to Tajikistan, where he was put on trial. He was convicted in October on six charges, including terrorism, and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Other members of the political opposition who were targeted during the year included SDP members Nizomiddin Begmatov and Nasimjon Shukurov, who were sentenced to prison on charges of hooliganism after allegedly addressing a judge with foul language during a court hearing.

In the February 2005 election to the lower house of parliament, the PDP secured an easy victory, winning 52 of 63 seats. The Communist Party and the IRP captured 4 and 2 seats, respectively, and independent candidates won 5. The opposition SDP and DP-which, along with the IRP, had formed a tactical coalition the previous year to challenge the PDP-failed to capture a single seat. Election monitors from the OSCE concluded that "despite some improvement over previous elections, large-scale irregularities were evident" and that the election "failed to meet many of the key OSCE commitments for democratic elections." Among the problems noted were multiple voting, lack of politically balanced election commissions, inadequate implementation of positive election law amendments, and official interference with press coverage of the campaign. In March, the Central Election Commission, which is appointed by the authorities, rejected an appeal by several opposition parties challenging the results in the capital, Dushanbe.

On the international front, Tajikistan's parliament in early 2005 ratified a 2004 agreement solidifying Russia's military presence in Tajikistan and increasing bilateral economic relations. The terms of the agreement included the upgrading of Russia's 201st Motorized Rifle Division in Tajikistan to a full military base; the transfer of control of a space-monitoring system in Tajikistan to Russia; the forgiving of Dushanbe's massive debts to Russia; and Russia's investment in infrastructure projects in Tajikistan, including a hydropower plant. Also included was the transfer of responsibility for guarding the Tajik-Afghan border from Russian to Tajik jurisdiction (most of the border guard officers were Russian, while the troops were Tajik conscripts). By mid-2005, Russian troops had been withdrawn from their last border post.