Tajik Bloggers Ask to Meet With President · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Every year, the president of Tajikistan meets with selected members of the national intelligentsia in Dushanbe, in late March. These meetings normally feature long speeches by the president followed by endless praise of his work and his answers to carefully scripted questions from the audience.
As the authorities begin [ru] putting together a list of “intellectuals” to attend this year's meeting with the country's leader, Tajikistani bloggers ask to be invited, too. Shukufa writes [ru]:
We should try and push [the officials] to send invitations to a couple of bloggers who would ask the president real questions. We could discuss the list of real and most pressing questions here [on blogiston.tj], on Facebook, [or other social media sites]. Bloggers are a real force, although the authorities do not understand it yet. We should help them understand this.
Russian Chronicles of Tajikistan, Tomiris, and Digital Tajikistan have supported Shukufa's initiative by re-posting her call on their blogs.