Rahmon Nabiyev

Rahmon Nabiyev
Rahmon Nabiyev
Раҳмон Набиев
2nd President of Tajikistan
	In office; 2 December 1991 – 7 September 1992
Prime Minister	Akbar Mirzoyev
Vice President	Narzullo Dustov
Preceded by	Akbarsho Iskandarov (Acting)
Succeeded by	Akbarsho Iskandarov (Acting)
	In office; 23 September 1991 – 6 October 1991
Preceded by	Qadriddin Aslonov (Acting)
Succeeded by	Akbarsho Iskandarov (Acting)
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan
	In office; 20 April 1982 – 14 December 1985
Preceded by	Jabbor Rasulov
Succeeded by	Qahhor Mahkamov
Personal details
Born	5 October 1930; Khujand, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union
Died	11 April 1993 (aged 62); Khujand, Tajikistan
Nationality	Tajik
Political party	Communist Party of Tajikistan
Spouse	Mariam Nabieva

Rahmon Nabiyevich Nabiyev, also spelled Rakhmon Nabiev (Tajik: Раҳмон Набиев; Russian: Рахмон Набиевич Набиев; 5 October 1930 – 11 April 1993), was a Tajik politician who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan from 1982 to 1985 and twice as the 2nd President of Tajikistan from 23 September 1991 to 6 October 1991 and from 2 December 1991 to 7 September 1992. He was also partly responsible for the Tajik Civil War. Rising out of the regional nomenklatura, Nabiyev ascended to power in 1982 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan. In 1985, he was ousted in a corruption scandal.^[2]

After Tajik leaders declared independence on 9 September 1991, Nabiyev orchestrated his way back into power on 23 September, only to step down on 6 October as pressure mounted for him to leave office during the presidential campaign. Nabiyev won the elections, and on 2 December 1991, he became the first elected President of Tajikistan.

Early years

Nabiyev was born on 5 October 1931 in a Tajik family of ordinary farmers, in the Khojent District (now the Ghafurov District) of the Leninabad Oblast. Starting in high school, in 1946, at the age of 16, he began to work as an accountant on a collective farm. In the same year he entered the Leninabad Agricultural College, which he graduated in 1949 to continue his studies in Tashkent, entering the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers. After graduating from this university in 1954, he began to work for two years as the chief engineer of the machine-tractor station in Isfisor.

Political activity

In 1961, Nabiyev joined the Communist Party of the Tajik SSR (the republican branch of the CPSU) and began working as a department head. From 1971 to 1973, he was the Minister of Agriculture of the Tajik SSR and in 1973, he became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Tajik SSR, becoming de facto head of government. In 1982, Nabiyev was appointed the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, becoming the head of the republic. In 1985 he was dismissed from his post “for addiction to revelry and alcohol”. From 1986 to 1991, he was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Central Council of the Nature Conservation Society of the Tajik SSR. In 1990, he was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik SSR, and on 23 September 1991 he became its chairman.

Leader of Tajikistan

Foreign affairs

On 21 December 1991, Nabiyev in Alma-Ata, together with the heads of some other former Soviet republics, signed the Alma-Ata Protocol on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. On 2 March 1992, he attended the raising of the flag of Tajikistan near the UN headquarters in New York. On 15 May of that year, he signed the Collective Security Treaty (CST) in Tashkent. Despite pressure from the political opposition, the Russian 201st Military Base at his insistence did not leave Tajikistan. He would later demand that the divisional command staff and junior staff be citizens of the republic.^[3] Nabiyev was seen as being pro-Russian and pro-Uzbek position, which saw him see support from Russia's Boris Yeltsin, Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov, and Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev respectively.

Presidential turmoil

Disputes concerning the election led to opposition street demonstrations, which developed into a civil war in May 1992. On 7 September 1992, Nabiyev and an entourage of his were on their way to Dushanbe airport when they were ambushed by opposition forces. At the terminal, Nabiyev was forced to resign at gunpoint.^[4] After a meeting and discussions with the armed opposition in the airport's VIP lounge, Nabiyev was released.^[5]

By December 1992 the Kulyab province's former apparatchik turned paramilitary-leader, Emomali Rahmon, was in power.

Death

He died on 11 April 1993. The cause of Rahmon Nabiev's death is not clear. Officially, he died of a heart attack, but in other versions of the story, he shot himself or was killed.^[6] His family, including his daughter Munavvara Nabiyeva, have cast doubt on the official version of his death.^[7]

Nabiyev was buried in Khujand, where a state funeral was organized.^[8] The funeral commission was headed by Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullajanov and was attended by almost all members of the leadership and government of the republic, including the chairman Emomali Rakhmonov, as well as foreign guests and ambassadors of foreign states.^[9]

In his memory, streets, schools and some other state institutions and objects are named after him throughout Tajikistan.

Personal life

Nabiyev's widow, former First Lady Mariam Nabieva, died in a house fire in December 2017.^[1] Rahmon and Mariam had three children: two sons, Rashid and Rustam, as well as a daughter, Munavvara. The eldest son, Rashid, died in 1997 under unclear circumstances. The youngest son Rustam lives in Saint Petersburg and deals with business. Munavvara lives in Dushanbe.

Rakhmon Nabiev loved football, and was a fan of the CSKA Pamir Dushanbe. In addition to the Tajik language, he was fluent in Russian and Uzbek, and understood and spoke a little Persian and Dari.^[10]

Awards

References

^ ^a ^b "Widow Of Tajikistan's First Elected President Dies In Fire". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
^ Neimatullo Safarov; Victor Novikov (2000). "Leaders of Tajikistan in XX-th century (1924 – 2000)". UNEP/GRID. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
^ Вечёрка (12 April 2012). "Рахмон Набиев: загадочная смерть президента". Вечёрка (in Russian). Retrieved 17 May 2021.
^ "Ситуация в Таджикистане". www.kommersant.ru (in Russian). 17 November 1992. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
^ Erlanger, Steven (8 September 1992). "After Week of Turmoil, Tajik President Is Forced Out". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
^ Рахмон Набиев. Rahmon Nabiev (in Russian). Retrieved 16 March 2023
^ "Мунаввара Набиева: мой отец не хотел становиться президентом Таджикистана. ВИДЕО". Радио Озоди (in Russian). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
^ "Смерти". www.kommersant.ru (in Russian). 13 April 1993. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
^ "Как хоронили лидеров стран СНГ". «Коммерсантъ». 25 April 2007.
^ Абдулло Ашуров (31 August 2014). "От Гафурова до Рахмона: Взгляд на заслуги пяти руководителей Таджикистана" (in Russian). Радио Озоди. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

External links

Media related to Rahmon Nabiyev at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Qadriddin Aslonov Akbarsho Iskandrov	President of Tajikistan 1991 1991–1992	Succeeded by Akbarsho Iskandrov
Preceded by Jabbor Rasulov	First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan 1983–1985	Succeeded by Qahhor Mahkamov