By Roman Kozhevnikov DUSHANBE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Tajik leader Imomali Rakhmonov, who is expected to win next month's presidential election in the absence of any real competition, on Monday urged his people to to vote "actively" in the interests of national prestige. Tajikistan has never held an election judged fair by Western monitors. Rakhmonov's only rivals are four little-known politicians who have never publicly criticised him. "Tajikistan's status in the world depends on the results of this election," Rakhmonov told his nation in televised remarks. "I call on you to actively take part in this upcoming important event. The election must become a unifying factor for our nation." Rakhmonov, in power since 1992, has been criticised in the West and by the country's fragile opposition for eradicating independent media and jailing opponents. Opposition parties have decided to boycott the Nov. 6 election altogether, calling it a waste of time and party funds. The pre-election period is slow and uneventful, and the predominant feeling among voters is apathy and disillusionment. In an odd twist, all four opposition candidates -- Amir Karakulov, Abdukhalim Gaffarov, Olimdzhon Boboyev and Ismoil Talbakov -- have decided to join forces and campaign as one team in various parts of Tajikistan. The four all belong to largely pro-Rakhmonov parties. "What we see in Tajikistan today is similar to elections in the Soviet Union," Zhibek Syzdykova, a Central Asia analyst, wrote in Russia's liberal Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily. "No one doubts Rakhmonov will win this election. But what is unclear is what will happen in the country after the poll." Tajikistan is an impoverished Muslim country neighbouring Afghanistan. It lies on the main export route for Afghan heroin to Europe, and it is also a U.S. ally in its War on Terror. Russia, its former Soviet master, and the West are watching the election closely because Tajikistan, still recovering from a bloody civil war in the 1990s, is key to stability in Central Asia as well as in neighbouring Afghanistan. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which refused to send election monitors to the last presidential vote in 1999, has said it will observe next month's poll.
