Rahmon Nabiyev

Rahmon Nabiyevich Nabiyev (Раҳмон Набиев, alternative spelling Rakhmon Nabiev; October 5, 1930 – April 11, 1993) served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan and twice as the President of Tajikistan. He partly instigated the Tajik Civil War. Rising out of the regional nomenklatura, Nabiyev ascended to power in 1982 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan. In 1985 he was ousted in a corruption scandal.

After Tajik leaders declared the independence of the Republic of Tajikistan in September 1991, Nabiyev orchestrated his way back into power on September 23, only to step down on October 6 as pressure mounted for him to vacate the office during the campaign for the presidential elections. Nabiyev won the elections and on December 2, 1991 he became the first elected President of Tajikistan.

Disputes concerning the election led to opposition street demonstrations, which developed into a civil war in May 1992. As fighting escalated, Nabiyev's own pro-government militias staged a coup d'état in September 1992. He resigned office from the safety of his home province of Leninabad. By December 1992 the Kulyab province's former apparatchik turned paramilitary-leader, Emomalii Rahmon, was in power. The cause of Rahmon Nabiev's death is not clear. Officially, he died of a heart attack, but in other versions of the story, he shot himself, or was killed. Nabiyev's widow, former First Lady Mariam Nabiyev, died in December 2017.