Elections in central Asia country keenly awaited and closely monitored

A leading EU political figure says he will pay “close attention” to the upcoming parliamentary elections in a former Soviet republic, writes Martin Banks.

Voters will go to the polls in a few days in Uzbekistan for what are keenly-awaited elections.

New deputies to the legislative (lower) chamber of the Oliy Majlis (the Uzbekistan parliament) will be elected, as well as to regional, district and city kengashes (councils).

Senior German MEP David McAllister, chairman of the European Parliament's influential Foreign Affairs Committee, is among those who says he will be following the outcome.

Speaking exclusively to this site, the veteran MEP said: “The European Parliament will not observe the upcoming Parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan. This task will be carried out by ODIHR. In previous elections, a number of irregularities were observed during election day.”

The centre right deputy added: “Assessing the efforts made by the authorities to introduce safeguards in this regard will be one of the key tasks of ODIHR election Observation mission.”

McAllister, a member of the European People’s Party, the biggest political grouping in the European Parliament, noted: “We will pay close attention to their recommendations.”

Something of a novelty for this part of the world, a pre-election party leaders’ TV debate was held on October 5. Such debates have become all too familiar in the West of course but this was particularly significant as it was a first of its kind for Uzbekistan. It was broadcast in no less than four languages ​​(Uzbek, Russian, English and Karakalpak) and shown live on several TV channels plus across a host of social media platforms including Facebook. The format was modelled on BBC TV’s long-running Question Time.For the first time, the debates also involved a diverse mix of social groups, representing the nation’s youth, women, ethnic minorities and civil servants.

An organizer said the idea was to illustrate the political parties’ wish for these to be directly involved in the political process and to be “innovate, creative, mobile and interactive.

"We hope this will have proved useful for voters in making their political choice.”

The election on 27 October, whose campaign slogan is “My choice is my prospering Motherland”, will be keenly watched by those who allege there is little real difference between the political parties.

Voters will elect 150 deputies of the parliament’s lower chamber and 56 member of the upper chamber and to 208 district and city (town) kengashes (councils).

A total of about 30,000 candidates are expected to participate in the elections while over 70,000 local and foreign observers will also participate in the process.

The  last poll was in 2019 (election slogan: “New Uzbekistan – New Elections”) when the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Business People – the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, came out tops followed by the National Revival Democratic Party with 36 seats and the Social Democratic Party “Adolat” (Justice) with 24 seats. The People’s Democratic Party won 22 seats while the Ecological Party secured 15 seats five years ago.

The country’s electoral system, while it has been reformed for this year’s elections with more checks and balances on the government and judiciary promised compared with past elections, is not without its critics.

Otabek Akromov and Bekzod Zakirovt, of The Diplomat, say the five parties contesting the election are all pro-government and pursue similar political programmes.

But they also add: “It is fair to conclude that the reforms initiated under the new government have undeniably injected new life into the political landscape, allowing registered parties to engage more actively than before.”

Nizamkhodjaev Zayniddin, chairman of the Central Election Commission in Uzbekistan, insists there is a diversity of choice, adding that citizens will have “a range of choices as we would expect in any properly functioning democracy".

“The divergent ideologies represented will promote a healthy debate on which direction our economy should take and will ensure accountability for the parties who ultimately hold power,” he states.

Five parties will contest the election: the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (UzLiDeP); the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party; the Ecological Party; the People’s Democratic Party and “Adolat” (Justice), the Social Democratic Party.

Little or nothing is known about these parties in the West so here, in no particular order, is this website’s potted guide to the parties.

People’s Democratic Party

Set up in 1991 to defend those in need of “targeted” support. It has a membership of about 520,000, half of whom are women and over half under the age of 30.

The PDP is the heir of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR. In terms of membership, it is the biggest party in the country. PDP's programme focuses on social policies and one of its objectives is the “protection of the interests of the general population, who are in need of targeted and social protection of the state and society”.

Democratic Party 'Milly Tiklanish'

First established in 1995, the National Revival (Milly Tiklanish) Democratic Party (NRDP) later merged with the National Democratic Party (Fidokorlar) in June 2008. Before the merger, Fidokorlar and Milli Tiklanish had 18 and 11 parliamentary seats respectively. NRDP encourages Uzbeks to grow their national consciousness, nurture and strengthen their national pride, fidelity and love for their country. Based on these values, it is critical of Russia's influence over Uzbekistan. As of 2020 it had 430,496 members, 46% of them women and 39% young people.

The Social Democratic Justice (Adolat) Party (SDJP)

Founded in 1995, the party aims at intensifying democratic processes that strengthen national independence and places special attention on trade unions and vulnerable sections of the population, such as low-income families. Adolat Party had 11 seats after its first participation in the elections held in 1999 for the then 250-member parliament. It got ten out of 120 seats in the 2004 elections, 19 seats in those of 2009, 20 seats in the 2014 elections and 24 in 2019. As of 2020 it had 430,496 members, 46% of them women and 39% young people.

The Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (LDP)

Founded in 2003, it defines itself as “a staunch supporter of the ideas forming the country's free, socially oriented market economy, democratic state and a strong civil society [and] a broad political party and civil society movement for liberalisation of all the spheres of life in Uzbekistan”.

LDP took part in the elections to the Legislative Chamber for the first time in the 2004 parliamentary elections, capturing 34.2% of the votes and gaining 41 of the 120 seats. Its seats increased to 150 in 2008. It ranked first in the 2009 and 2014 elections, winning 53 and 52 seats respectively.It was founded by representatives of small businesses, entrepreneurs and farmers who wanted to form a nationwide political party “which represents and protects the interests of businessmen.”

The Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan (EMU)

Founded in 2008, it aims at ensuring environmental and public health protection, which is among the priorities of the government. EMU places special attention on the drying up of the Aral Sea and the Rogun Dam construction, the latter creating disputes between upstream (Tajikistan) and downstream (Uzbekistan) countries. It says it seeks to “improve legislation and public environmental control and boost international co-operation”.

Crucial oversight for the elections comes from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Also speaking exclusively to this site, Katya Andrusz, spokesperson for the Warsaw-based OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), who said: “All OSCE states have committed to upholding democratic principles and human rights, and ODIHR remains in constant dialogue with Uzbekistan on a wide range of issues.

“We work with both the national authorities and civil society to support and strengthen democracy and human rights in the country.”

She added, “To give just two examples: earlier this year we did a detailed legal analysis together on a set of laws to regulate freedom of expression and media freedom, together with our colleagues from the OSCE institution working on freedom of the media.

“Even more recently we gave training for high-ranking police officers in Uzbekistan on policing peaceful protests in line with human rights. The training was based on ODIHR’s guide for law enforcement agencies to police assemblies based on international human rights law and established good practice from across the OSCE area.”

 Andrusz went on, “All OSCE states have committed to inviting ODIHR to observe their national elections. Currently, we have an election observation mission in Uzbekistan to observe the forthcoming parliamentary elections, where – as always – we’re looking to see whether the election is held in line with international standards for democratic elections. This is ODIHR’s 11th observation mission in Uzbekistan.”

It launched the election observation mission for the poll following an official invitation from Uzbekistan’s national authorities.

The mission consists of a core team of 14 international experts based in Tashkent, along with 26 long-term observers who will be deployed across the country.

Additionally, ODIHR will request 300 short-term observers, who are expected to arrive just before election day.

The mission will assess the conduct of the election in accordance with OSCE commitments, international standards for democratic elections and national legislation.

Observers will closely monitor all aspects of the election process, including pre- and post-election activities. Specific areas of focus include the legal framework, campaign conduct (including social networks), the functioning of the election administration at all levels, the resolution of election disputes and media coverage. The observers will also evaluate the implementation of previous ODIHR recommendations.

Public interest in these elections is said to be higher than ever before, partly because the country is seen as transitioning away from the shackles of its Soviet past.

The test now is the ensure that the poll is declared free and fair so that this landlocked nation can continue to move forward on the road to a mature democracy.

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