Elections of Uzbekistan. Presidential elections

Elections of Uzbekistan.
Presidential elections were held in Uzbekistan on 24 October 2021.^[1] This was the sixth presidential election held since independence. Incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev won a second term with a majority 80.1% of the vote, although faring the lowest performance for an incumbent in terms of vote share since 1991. Maqsuda Vorisova from the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (XDP) was the runner-up and Alisher Qodirov from the Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party (Milliy Tiklanish) came third, which marked the first time that more than two candidates had officially garnered more than 5% of the vote.
Mirziyoyev was widely expected to win the official count by a large margin.^[2] Two prominent opposition figures had declared their intention to run against Mirziyoyev, but were repeatedly refused registration for their nominating parties by the authorities, with one of the candidates, celebrity singer Jahongir Otajonov, who was backed by the banned Erk Democratic Party (EDP), being withdrawn from the race due to apparent political intimidation.^[3][4] Khidirnazar Allakulov, a former rector, attempted to contest the race by creating his own political party named Truth and Progress Social Democratic Party (HTSDP) in the process which was denied registration as well, thus making him unqualified to run and leaving no opposition candidates to appear on the ballot.^[5][6]
In the aftermath of the election, the OSCE issued a statement: "Despite recent welcoming reforms Uzbekistan's presidential election lacked genuine competition and significant procedural irregularities were noted on election day."^[7] Observers from the CIS described the presidential election as "competitive, free, open and transparent."^[8]
Shavkat Mirziyoyev was inaugurated for his second term on 6 November.^[9] He was sworn in at the senate building at the joint session of the two chambers of the Parliament.
Background[edit]
The 2016 Uzbek presidential election was held following the death of incumbent President Islam Karimov on 2 September of that year.^[12] The Constitution of Uzbekistan mandated that the election be held within three months of Karimov's death.^[13] Acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev won the elections with 90% of the vote to which were described by international observers and media as a sham with a "lack of a genuine choice" among the presidential candidates.^[14] The last time a Uzbek president has faced a serious challenger in an election was in 1991, the year of the country's independence.^[15]
Under Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan's political system has continued to be tightly controlled.^[16] Mirziyoyev was eligible under the country's constitution to serve a second term,^[16] and was considered likely to be reelected, as according to Farkhod Tolipov, founder of the Uzbek non-governmental research organisation Caravan of Knowledge, there is not "any alternative to him to challenge during the next elections".^[17] While a variety of parties ran in the 2019–20 parliamentary election, all of them were considered to be loyal to the government.^[18] In May 2020, the Uzbek government announced reforms to 'liberalise' its media and electoral laws.^[16] It has also claimed that it will ease campaign finance regulations and allow private donations.^[16] Mirziyoyev published a draft decree proposing constitutional amendments to replace the then-current majoritarian system for parliamentary elections with a "mixed system that includes some proportional representation".^[16]
In November 2020, a delegation led by Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov visited the United States "looking to strengthen" its strategic relationship with Uzbekistan, described as the "key regional power broker".^[19] The meetings resulted in US$100 million being given to Uzbekistan for economic assistance, and the US pledging support for Uzbekistan's appointment to the United Nations Human Rights Council.^[19]
Tolipov in December 2020 said that "despite obvious advancement in reforms in various spheres, one direction of reforms remains very slow: it is the sphere of political reforms".^[17] Some reforms had been implemented; Parliament's visibility had been "slightly increased", and fragments of Parliamentary sessions were more often accessible to the public. However, MPs continued to vote unanimously on issues like the appointment of provincial governors, without attempts at debate or pluralistic decision-making.^[17]

Official election logo
While the Uzbek government's May 2020 announcement promised "liberalisation" of media laws,^[16] claiming it would no longer use libel and slander laws to imprison journalists and bloggers who criticized it,^[16] the Agency of Information and Mass Communications continued to revoke media licenses well into November 2020.^[20] The agency claimed in a 27 November statement that, while it was committed to "guaranteeing freedom of speech", the only way to ensure that freedom was by preventing people from saying anything the government deemed to be "false";^[20] the revocations of media licenses were therefore supposedly due to misinformation and disinformation, such as disagreeing with the Uzbek government's claims about COVID-19 statistics. Furthermore, a website had allegedly "presented" the opinions of individual Uzbek Internet users as "public opinion", which was forbidden.^[21][22] This decision created public and media outrage;^[20] the United States embassy in Tashkent said it was "disappointed" by the agency's actions; Daniel Rosenblum, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan, said that "to succeed, Uzbekistan's ambitious reforms require a free & open press. AIMC pressure not consistent with this".^[20] The agency, started in 2018 by the president's former press secretary Komil Allomjonov, initially removed many restrictions on what type of posts could be made online in Uzbekistan; however, Allomjonov's successor, Asadjon Khodjaev, is "widely viewed as a representative of an old guard that aims to slow or stall reforms."^[20]
On 8 February 2021, Mirziyoyev signed a bill, approved by the Parliament, to move the election day from December to 24 October 2021.^[23]
Electoral system[edit]
The President of Uzbekistan is elected using the two-round system, with a run-off election between the two highest-placed candidates held if no candidate receives an absolute majority of the vote in the first round.^[24] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which observed the 2016 elections, reported that the elections lacked real competition because the ruling party was in a much stronger position, and due to limitations on certain freedoms, such as the right for media to report on politics in an unrestricted manner.^[25] Other irregularities reported by the OSCE include ballot stuffing and improper proxy voting.^[14]
Candidates[edit]
Officially, a political party has the right to nominate a candidate for presidency on the condition that it is registered by the Ministry of Justice no later than four months before the day of the announcement of the start of the election campaign and six months before election date.^[26][27]
Nominations are reserved towards the highest bodies of political parties, and one party can nominate only one candidate from amongst its members or a non-partisan person. Thus, independent and non-partisan candidates cannot legally nominate themselves, and this requires becoming a member of one of the officially registered parties and nominating only with the support and approval of the leadership of these parties.^[26] This paragraph is often criticised by experts, political scientists, international observers and organizations, as well as human rights defenders, opposition figures and dissidents for systemically limiting access to any participant willing to bid for presidency.
As of June 2021, there are only five political parties officially registered in Uzbekistan which are all viewed as pro-government: Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party, Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party, Justice Social Democratic Party, People's Democratic Party and the Ecological Party.^[18][28]