Despite recent welcome reforms, the lack of genuine pluralism and meaningful engagement between candidates or with citizens meant that Uzbekistan’s presidential election was not truly competitive, while significant procedural irregularities were noted on election day, says a statement released by the OSCE on October 25.
The joint observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), and the European Parliament (EP), reportedly acknowledged that the legal framework has been through extensive reforms in recent years, and many of the changes were in line with previous recommendations. Nonetheless, observers noted that election legislation still has a number of deficiencies and does not yet fully comply with international standards for democratic elections. While fundamental human rights and freedoms are guaranteed by the constitution, they reportedly continue to be restricted by other legislation and are frequently not implemented in practice.
Some 21 million voters were registered to cast their ballot in Uzbekistan’s presidential election. While election preparations were carried out professionally and efficiently, the voting process on election day was negatively assessed in a significant number of polling stations, according to the OSCE. While turnout was high at over 80 percent, there were numerous serious irregularities, with large numbers of voters added to the voter lists without proper safeguards, able to cast their ballots without identification documents or on behalf of others. Observers reportedly also noted indications of ballot box stuffing in multiple polling stations. Counting procedures were often not followed and polling stations had difficulties reconciling the results.
The statement says the distinction between the president in his current role and as candidate was generally blurred, giving him an undue advantage. In addition, most private media outlets provided more coverage of the incumbent than of the other four contestants combined in their election reporting, with all monitored media also extensively covering the activities of the president.
The international election observation totaled 366 observers from 44 countries, composed of 255 ODIHR experts and long- and short-term observers, 99 parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA, and 12 from the EP.
