Summary Emomali Rakhmon has enjoyed the same authority three times before this turn.
DUSHANBE (AP) Voters in Tajikistan are casting ballots in a presidential election that is all but certain to extend the incumbent s rule after officials barred the only real opposition candidate from the race.
President Emomali Rakhmon, 61, is running for a fourth term in Wednesday s vote in the mountainous Muslim nation neighboring Afghanistan and China. Rakhmon has led the impoverished ex-Soviet country for more than two decades.
The remaining five challengers all have praised Rakhmon.
For many years, Rakhmon s government has cracked down on dissent and maintained tight control over the media, drawing harsh criticism from international rights groups.
The Tajik authorities have sought to exploit public fears of a replay of a bloody civil war in the 1990s, casting the opposition as a threat to the country s stability.
