The politics of Tajikistan takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the executive branch and the two chambers of parliament. Political background The August 1991 putsch widened the rift. Frustrated by daily demonstrations in front of the Supreme Soviet and the erosion of the government's authority, the regime appeared to support the Moscow putschists. Kadriddin Aslonov, then the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Tajikistan, went on record in defence of the (Soviet) status quo when complaining to a journalist of Izvestia that the country is falling into chaos. This statement encapsulated the feeling of the republican leadership. Support for the putschists exasperated the already galvanised intelligentsia. A flood of demonstrators blocked roads adjacent to the building of the Supreme Soviet and forced Kahar Mahkamov to resign on 31 August 1991. Demonstrators, encouraged by the opposition parties but not entirely controlled by them, had far-reaching demands: the banning of the Communist party and the nationalization of its assets, the resignation of the entire government, the dissolution of the legislature and new elections. During this turmoil Tajikistan declared its independence from Soviet Union, on September 9, 1991 and promptly fell into a civil war from 1992–1997 between old-guard regits, and Islamists loosely organized as the United Tajik Opposition (UTO). Other combatants and armed bands that flourished in this civil chaos simply reflected the breakdown of central authority rather than loyalty to a political faction. The height of hostilities occurred between 1992-93. By 1997, the predominantly Kulyabi-led Tajik government and the UTO successfully negotiated a power-sharing peace accord and implemented it by 2000. Tajikistan is slowly rebuilding itself with an integrated government and continues to permit a Russian military presence to guard their border with Afghanistan and the basing of the Russian 201st Motorized Rifle Division that never left Tajikistan when it became independent. Most of these Russian-led forces, however, are local Tajik non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Both Tajikistan's presidential and parliamentary elections, in 1999 and 2000, respectively, were widely considered to be flawed and unfair but peaceful. The inclusion of an Islamist party committed to secular government (Islamic Renaissance Party) and several other parties in the Parliamentary elections represented an improvement in the Tajik people's right to choose their government. Tajikistan is the only Central Asian