Uzbekistan - Politics
The 24 October 2021 presidential election was held in the context of ongoing reforms in social, economic and political life of Uzbekistan. The president is directly elected for a five-year term and can serve no more than two consecutive terms. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, a second round between the two leading candidates will be held within one month of the election day.
The presidential election took place near the end of the 2017-2021 Development Strategy initiated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The strategy aims to modernize the social, economic and political life among other things through strengthening the role of parliament and political parties, reforming governance and public management, developing the media and civil society, ensuring the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, promoting gender equality and guaranteeing protection of citizens’ human rights and freedoms. Such rapid changes were in a big contrast with the conservatism of Islam Karimov, the country’s former President and quickly became the point of interest for European countries and the United States.
Uzbekistan has a strong presidential system. The Oliy Majlis (the bi-cameral parliament) exercises legislative powers, appoints the Prime Minister upon the president’s nomination and, following the 2019 constitutional amendments, pre-approves all ministers before their appointment by the president.
President Mirziyoyev won the 2016 presidential election, with 88.6 percent of valid votes. The last parliamentary elections took place in 2019, and all five registered political parties obtained seats: Liberal Democratic Party obtained 53 seats, Democratic Party Milliy Tiklanish – 36 seats, Social Democratic Party Adolat – 24 seats, People’s Democratic Party – 22 seats, and Ecological Party – 15 seats.
In 2021, Uzbekistan's incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was nominated by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Other presidential candidates include Bakhrom Abdukhalimov from the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party, Alisher Kadirov from Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) and Narzullo Oblomuradov from the Ecological Parties. The only female candidate, Maksuda Varisova, is from the People's Democratic Party.
Mirziyoev, who is expected to easily win the October 24 election over four others widely seen as token candidates, promised that if he wins a second five-year term he will work on making high-speed Internet accessible in every home, more than double per capita income to $4,000 from $1,700, and help ensure the personal protection of journalists. His critics say, however, he failed on many fronts. For example, Mirziyoev has said he is not against having opposition political groups in Uzbekistan, yet it has been impossible for independent candidates to register their candidacies for the presidential election.
The election took place under a recently revised legal framework. Amendments address some prior ODIHR recommendations, including those related to public gatherings for campaign purposes, prohibition on misuse of state resources, campaign finance and election dispute resolution. Many interlocutors pointed to the inclusive nature of the reform process. Nevertheless, other ODIHR recommendations including those related to certain aspects of fundamental freedoms of association, assembly and expression, suffrage rights, citizen election observation and registration of political parties remain unaddressed.
Voter registration is passive. Citizens declared incapacitated by a court decision based on intellectual and psychosocial disabilities as well as prisoners convicted for serious crimes are not eligible to vote. Suffrage restrictions based on mental disability are at odds with OSCE commitments and other international standards. There are some 20.5 million voters registered, and voter lists are extracted from a centralized, electronic register.
Only registered political parties can nominate candidates, and someinterlocutors pointed to burdensome requirements for party registration resulting in a lack of pluralistic views. Contrary to international standards and OSCE commitments, independent candidates are not allowed.
The law guarantees equal campaign opportunities for all contestants, including in terms of holding meetings, access to the media and publication and distribution of campaign materials. In line with a prior ODIHR recommendation, recent legal amendments abolish the authorization procedure of campaign events in favour of a simple notification. The changes to the election legislation introduce the prohibition of the misuse of state resources for campaign purposes. Nevertheless, outside of the election context, other restrictions, in particular those related to holding of assemblies only in specifically designated places and at specific times, remain in place.
All election related expenses are funded by the state, and each nominating party receives an equal amount of public funds to conduct the campaign. All parties informed the ODIHR NAM that the funds allocated would be sufficient for financing candidates’ campaigns, but some would have welcomed an earlier transfer of the money to better prepare for the campaign. While private donations are allowed, they are subject to even distribution by the Central Election Commission [CEC] among all contestants.
The media plan to cover the campaign with a variety of formats, including debates; media are legally obliged to provide equal conditions for all contestants. Online sources are increasingly used as a source of political information. Although defamation is no longer punishable by imprisonment, it remains a criminal offense and convictions for denigration of the president, including online, can still carry up to five years imprisonment. The legislation holds media accountable for third-party content and trustworthiness of the disseminated information.
Uzbekistan has introduced legislation making it a criminal offense to insult the head of state. This law was approved in March 2021 after RFE/RL's Uzbek service published a report on a luxurious mountain resort, allegedly built at taxpayers' expense, for the private use of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The government has strongly denied any wrongdoing and said that the property is not for the president's personal use. The internet was temporarily blacked out in the country after RFE/RL's Uzbek service ran a video about the extensive business interests of President Mirziyoyev's son-in-law.
In August 2021, Valijon Kalonov, a prominent social media figure in Uzbekistan, fell foul of the new law and was arrested on charges of insulting the president. Kalonov faced a possible prison term for using his Facebook page to call on the president not to stand in October's presidential poll and for voters to boycott the election.
No one in Uzbekistan or abroad doubted that Mirziyoev would win the managed election, in which no genuine opposition candidates were allowed to run. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the 64-year-old former prime minister hours before the preliminary results -- which gave Mirziyoev 80 percent of the vote and an easy victory -- were announced on October 25. His four rivals, including a woman, who finished second, were largely seen as nominal figures fielded to create the illusion of choice. Even though Mirzoyoev is credited with bringing in sweeping economic reforms that have improved the living standards of many, observers say his attempt at a political thaw during his first term was too cautious to dismantle the autocratic model of government created by his predecessor, Islam Karimov.
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