Lord Venal – a seasoned observer of elections in the region and a specialist on election law – has praised Tajikistan’s recent amendments to the election law as “innovative”. He welcomes the reduction of the minimum age for any future candidate for the presidency (once the current incumbent decides that he no longer wishes to rule) from 35 to 30 as “self-evidently necessary”.
“What is innovative is the simultaneous reduction in the maximum age to 35,” Lord Venal adds, pointing to a provision not so far widely noted. “But here comes the clever bit – each year the age band rises by one year, both the minimum and maximum ages. That is a stroke of genius.”
Lord Venal is unfussed by deputies’ ultimate decision not to adopt the proposal that any candidate must have the same surname as the previous incumbent. “I could well imagine that were I president, I might want my daughter to succeed me and she might have a different surname.” Asked if he has a daughter who might be in line to inherit his title, Lord Venal responded: “I am sure I have a daughter or two somewhere, I can’t honestly remember.”
Kazaxia 
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