Rustam Emomali, the eldest son of the Tajik President, is set to become deputy of the city parliament, his father’s ruling party has decided.

He was elected to the pro-state Youth Union last April, and to the central board of the party last December, but many people say he was virtually appointed.

Rapid ascent

It was also last year that he participated for the first time in a meeting of four presidents: Russia’s Dmitriy Medvedev, Afghanistan’s Hamind Karzai, Pakistan’s Asef Ali Zardari and his father Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe on July 29, 2009.

These developments are making Tajiks weary of repeating the Azerbaijani precedent, in which the son inherited the presidential crown from his father.

Last year was particularly significant in sparking such fears, since Rahmon’s daughter Ozoda Rahmon was appointed the head of the consular service at the Ministry of Foreign affairs and promoted to deputy minister in a short time.

Who is this guy?

Rustam Emomali, 22-year-old graduate of Tajik State University, heads the business department at the Investments and State Property Committee. Teachers and students at the university say he was a rare guest during lectures, although he passed all of his exams with the highest marks.

Rustam’s name surfaced in the media for the first time in 2008. Several websites wrote that he had shot and killed his uncle Hasan Asadullohzoda, an influential banker, and the head of Orienbank during a family quarrel.

Tajik officials strongly denied the rumors, but Asadullohzoda was not seen in public for three months. Some observers say Rustam only wounded his uncle, who was then treated in Germany, while others say he was replaced either by his younger brother of Hasan or a double.

His hobbies

In 2008, he surfaced as a forward for the Tajik Premier League football team Istiqlol. Rustam helped the side make a rapid ascent and collect all possible trophies, since no other player was able to tackle him and no goalkeeper was brave enough to anger him.

The son of a Tajik minister told me that Rustam also loves expensive racing cars and arranges midnight races in the streets of Dushanbe.

Pros and cons

Some people in Tajikistan say Rustam is a good guy, and that he should not be deprived of his constitutional right to being elected just because he is the President’s son. They point to George W. Bush and the current President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev, who replaced his late father Geidar Aliev.

However, even they admit that Rustam has never made any public speeches and that no one knows his thoughts and capacity.

Others are against Rustam’s rise, calling it artificial and undeserved. They fear Tajikistan could slip into a kind of monarchy. They say, “Of course, Rustam could be a good guy, but there are millions of other good young guys in Tajikistan. Some of them are even more educated, worthy and accomplished men. The problem is they were not born in the presidential family.