Emomali Rahmon (born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov; 5 October 1952) is a Tajikistani politician who has served as the third president of Tajikistan since 1994, having previously led the country as Chairman of the Supreme Assembly from 1992 to 1994. Since 1998, he has also served as the leader of the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan, which dominates the Parliament of Tajikistan. On 30 September 1999, he was elected vice-president of the United Nations General Assembly for a one-year term.

He became better known in 1992 after the abolition of the presidency, when at the dawn of the civil war he became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Parliament) of Tajikistan as a compromise candidate between communists and neo-communists on the one hand and liberal-democratic, nationalist and Islamist forces (the United Tajik Opposition) on the other. Rahmon has won five undemocratic presidential elections. In addition, he extended his powers via constitutional referendums in 1999 and 2003. Following the results of another constitutional referendum in 2016, amendments were adopted that removed presidential term limits.

Rahmon heads an authoritarian dictatorial regime in Tajikistan with a cult of personality. Political opponents are repressed, violations of human rights and freedoms are severe, elections are not free and fair, and corruption and nepotism are rampant. Various important government positions are occupied by his family members, such as his 37-year-old son Rustam Emomali, who is the chairman of the country's parliament and the mayor of its capital city, Dushanbe.

Rahmon was born as Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmonov to Sharif Rahmonov (c. 1912–1992) and Mayram Sharifova (1910–2004), a peasant family in Danghara, Kulob Oblast (present-day Khatlon Region). His father was a Red Army veteran of World War II, and recipient of the Order of Glory in the 2nd and 3rd degrees. From 1971 to 1974, Rahmon served in the Soviet Union's Pacific Fleet, during which he was stationed in the Primorsky Krai. After completing military service, Rahmon returned to his native village where he worked for some time as an electrician.

As a rising apparatchik in Tajikistan, he became a chairman of the collective state farm of his native Danghara. According to his official biography, Rahmon graduated from the Tajik State National University with a specialist's degree in economics in 1982. After working for several years in the Danghara Sovkhoz, Rahmon was appointed chairman of the sovkhoz in 1987.

In 1990, Rahmon was elected a people's deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik SSR. President Rahmon Nabiyev was forced to resign in the first months of the Civil War in August 1992. Akbarsho Iskandrov, Speaker of the Supreme Soviet, became acting president. Iskandarov resigned in November 1992 in an attempt to end the civil unrest. That same month, the Supreme Soviet met in Khujand for its 16th session and declared Tajikistan a parliamentary republic. Rahmon was then elected by the members of the Supreme Soviet as its chairman (as the parliamentary republican system adopted by Tajikistan did not provide for a ceremonial president, he was also head of state) and the head of government. Former Interior Minister Yaqub Salimov later recalled that Rahmon's appointment was made because he was "nondescript", in which other field commanders thought that he could be cast aside "when he had served his purpose."

In 1994, a new constitution re-established the presidency. Rahmon was elected to the post on 6 November 1994 and sworn in ten days later. During the civil war that lasted from 1992 to 1997, Rahmon's rule was opposed by the United Tajik Opposition. As many as 100,000 people died during the war. He survived an assassination attempt on 30 April 1997 in Khujand, as well as two attempted coups in August 1997 and November 1998.

Following constitutional changes, he was re-elected on 6 November 1999 to a seven-year term, officially taking 97% of the vote.