Uzbekistan - 21 December 2014 Elections
Parliamentary elections took place 21 December 2014. According to the OSCE’s observer mission, the elections “were competently administered but lacked genuine electoral competition and debate.” The preliminary report of the OSCE’s limited observer mission to parliamentary elections in December 2014 noted the elections did not “address main concerns with regard to fundamental freedoms that are critical for elections to fully meet international commitments and standards.”
The government limited participation in the December 2014 parliamentary elections solely to candidates nominated by the four registered pro-presidential parties and maintained control of the media and electoral financing. The OSCE preliminary report also underlined that proxy voting was widespread and “may have influenced the turnout,” claimed by the Central Election Commission to be 89 percent of registered voters. Several human rights activists claimed that, without proxy voting in the presidential and parliamentary elections, turnout would not have been sufficient for the elections to meet the legal minimum participation threshold.
On 21 December 2014, the first round of parliamentary elections were held in Uzbekistan. On 21 December 2014, the first round of parliamentary elections were held in Uzbekistan. The four political parties vying for the 135 seats - the Liberal Democratic Party, People's Democratic Party Of Uzbekistan, National Revival Party "Milly Tiklanish" and the Social Democratic “Adolat” (Justice) Party - all supportive of then president Islom Karimov’s government.
After the second round of elections on 4 January 2015, the remaining 22 deputies were elected in their respective districts. According to official results, out of the 135 electable seats, the Liberal Democratic Party won 52, the National Revival Party "Milly Tiklanish" won 36, the People’s Democratic Party won 26 and the Social Democratic “Adolat” (Justice) Party won 20. The turnout for the second round was 76,93 percent. Among the 150 elected deputies, 24, or 16 percent are women.
The 27 December 2009 parliamentary elections took place in the context of Uzbekistan’s declared “step-by-step approach” towards further democratization. While some of the December 2008 amendments to the election law slightly improve the legal framework for elections, their good faith implementation remains indispensable to ameliorate electoral practices in Uzbekistan. However, other amendments, such as providing 15 reserved seats in the lower chamber for the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan and the abolishment of the possibility for civic initiative groups to nominate independent candidates, constituted further departures from OSCE commitments. Overall, the election legislation continues to fall short of OSCE commitments and requires significant improvements.
The elections were generally administered in a competent manner and according to schedule, although decisions of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and District Election Commissions (DECs) were not readily available to the public and observers, thus impeding transparency.
The election campaign was characterized by low intensity and visibility as well as a marked absence of genuine political competition. Campaigning had a slow start, gaining limited momentum only during the last week of the pre-election period. Media showed very limited interest in the electoral campaign, devoting most coverage in their news programs to the activities of the president and the government. Media outlets, in particular both state broadcasters TV Uzbekistan and TV Yoshallar, failed to provide political parties with equitable coverage, although required by law. They, however, provided free airtime to political parties as provided by law.
There was a remarkable absence of formal complaints at all levels. Among the reasons given by electoral stakeholders was a lack of confidence in the complaints process, cumbersome court procedures and a general preference to settling disputes informally rather than through formal channels.
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