One Step Forward, But Two Steps Backwards

In today’s world when every country and organization strives to improve its transparency, accountability and public access to its information in order to gain trust and support in society, the Tajik government once again decides to “swim against the stream.”

Just a few days ago, it issued a decree that envisions charging fees for reimbursement of the costs of providing information to organizations and public. The government is now allowing its offices, ministries, and agencies to require payment of about 10 cents per page or $10 dollars per 100 pages of information before providing it to anyone interested.

Unfortunately, this is happening in a country where average salary is roughly $70 dollars, most of the population don’t have easy or regular access to information and barely two dozen functioning newspapers and other media outlets are already struggling with financial difficulties and hardships in obtaining government-related information.

Although, in developed countries there are some fees for particular government services and processing, but there is nothing that restricts public access to the kind of information that should be readily and regularly available to anyone. Also, there are justified exceptions and privileges for journalists in foreign countries, but the Tajik government wants to impose plain restrictions to its information for everybody.

Evidently, this decree is designed to create a “safety zone” for Tajik government from its own people, make information access expensive and unaffordable for media and push more of them to edge of bankcrupcy and closesure, and generally, keep the population less informed and undereducated, so the ruling “gangsters” can continue robbing their nation, destroying the state, and walking unpunished.

Such action shamelessly defies the notion that in a democratic state government is elected by people and serves its people, but not vice versa. It is absolutely right, as one Tajik journalist noted, that especially in Tajikistan people cannot be expected to pay for government service twice as they already pay government to work through taxes.

Therefore, this is absolutely unacceptable and harmful for a country that has chosen democratic path to development and which, on the contrary, seriously needs to improve transparency, public access to information, and media coverage of its population to achieve its goals.

The Tajik government should immediately recall this decree and in fact, reverse it with additional order to its officials to make sure they conduct weekly or monthly press briefings, maintain highly active and responsive public relations departments, and conduct vigorous collection and distribution of data, information, and analysis regarding government activity.

Only by promoting information access, transparency, and accountability can this Tajik government increase its chances for regaining the trust and support of its own people and of international community that it has lost and improve its image in order to attract big domestic and foreign investments.

President Rahmon must understand that he cannot force Tajik people to buy shares for Roghun construction and join efforts in building such immense and important powerhouse, but in market economy and free society any cooperation can exist only through gaining trust and support which can be achieved exactly by broadening public access to information, transparency of plans, and accountability for ones own actions.

By announcing decree to restrict access to information and at the same time demanding from population to buy shares in Roghun power plant, it looks like this regime wants to tell us “Don’t ask, bring the money.” But doesn’t it remind everyone of the way gangsters deal with issues? I hope they know how gangsters end up, though.

In summary, the Tajik government likes to take “one step forward, but two steps backwards.” While previous decrees which obligated government offices and ministries to conduct regular press conferences as well as be responsive to public remarks circulated in media were steps forward, certainly this step is a backwards one.