Uzbekistan's early presidential election was technically well prepared but lacked genuine competition. Positively, recent reforms to the legal framework have taken some previous ODIHR recommendations into account, but fundamental freedoms remain restricted, the low-key campaign lacked meaningful engagement with voters, and significant procedural irregularities were observed on election day, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today.
While acknowledging that the legal framework continues to be reformed, the framework does not yet fully provide a legal basis to hold democratic elections. The observers also noted a number of long-standing recommendations key to the democratic process remain unaddressed. Reforms are also needed to remove current limitations and allow for the full participation of civil society in the election process.
"It was positive to see that the reforms of the legal framework took a number of our previous observations and recommendations into account," said Ambassador Urszula Gacek, head of the ODIHR observation mission. "But the realities of the election campaign, with the absence of political competition and existing limitations to freedom of expression, make it all the more important to take bolder measures towards a true democracy that includes all citizens."
The election administration managed technical preparations for voting day effectively, but further safeguards to ensure the independence of lower-level commissions are needed. While election day was calm overall, a number of shortcomings were observed that included serious irregularities and the failure to follow important procedures and safeguards. Together with indications of ballot box stuffing as well as numerous observations of seemingly identical signatures on the voter lists, this called into question the integrity of the process.
None of the registered candidates publicly criticized the current president or presented alternative political views and the campaign remained low key throughout, with observers noting that events often appeared orchestrated. While campaign regulations ban the misuse of public resources and the participation of state officials in the campaign, these lack effective safeguards for implementation. The introduction of social measures and announcements of new projects provided an undue advantage to the incumbent president and blurred the separation between state and party, to which all OSCE countries have committed.
While online media provide some space for a discussion of social issues, restrictive legal provisions and interference with the editorial independence of the media led to an absence of analytical reporting, hindering voters from making an informed choice. At the same time, legal measures such as those related to defamation, false information, and extremism, continue to disproportionally criminalize speech, contrary to international law.
Positively, the number of women in parliament has increased since reforms aimed at encouraging their participation in public and political life were launched in 2016, and women currently hold almost 30 per cent of parliamentary seats. However, women remain underrepresented and gender issues did not feature highly ahead of the election. With the exception of the one female presidential candidate, women did not feature prominently in the campaign.
ODIHR's election observation mission took up its work on 7 June and will end on 18 July. The mission is made up of 16 experts sent by ODIHR as well as 24 long-term and 195 short-term observers deployed throughout Uzbekistan.
