Malaysian Senate Deputy President Overwhelmed With Uzbek Presidential Election Voter Turnout

By Nor Faridah Abd Rashid KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Senate Deputy President Doris S Brodie, who was in Uzbekistan to monitor the recent Presidential Election, was "overhelmed" by the 91 per cent or 18,942,000 Uzbeks who went to the polls during the March 29 election. "My overall observation is that the system of democracy in their country befits their spirit. I don't think since our independence Malaysia has that kind of turnout," she told Bernama in a recent interview. Doris, who had led a delegation of three other senators on the invitation of the Uzbek government to monitor the transparency of the presidential election, noted that Uzbeks were very enthusiastic in choosing a leader for their country. She said that out of the over 18 million who cast their votes, over 17 million or some 90 per cent had voted for Islam Karimov who retained his post as president. "I can only conclude that Karimov is very well liked and has a lot of ardent supporters as he has brought a lot of development to the country. I would like to refer to him as the architect of the Republic Of Uzbekistan. He has been there since independence (1991)," she said. She also noticed that despite the majority of Uzbekistan’s 30 million population being Muslims (about 80 per cent), Uzbeks were liberal in their thinking and moderate in their day to day dealings. "This is necessary for a young country like Uzbekistan, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, to move forward and to progress. If you don’t have that kind of spirit of moderation, it would be quite difficult to do so," she said. Another aspect, which caught her attention was that unlike in Malaysia the polling stations were not necessarily schools. Universities and even clinics were set up as polling stations and because of that there were no long queues. "I visited the University of Russia, which was one of the polling stations. It was more like a celebration there where the students celebrate Navrus (New Year) which coincides with the election and people were just happy," she said. Doris said that she was also briefed by the Central Election Commission (CEC) officials regarding funding where each party which nominated its candidate was given an equal amount of money by the government. She was told that it was against the law for a donor to give money directly to support a political party, instead it was to be given to the CEC which would divide it equally among the parties. "This is a good start for Uzbekistan. With this kind of system, the country may be able to minimise or control money politics," she said. Election Commission Deputy Chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah, a second time observer, commended the Uzbeks who showed their eagerness to cast their votes to choose a leader and hoped that Malaysian voters could emulate this kind of spirit. Speaking to Bernama in TASHKENT, Uzbekistan's capital, he also pointed out to the respect that the voters had for the CEC, noting that under the election system there the ballot box could be taken to the residence of a handicapped or sick person for him to vote. "The ballot box is taken to them and the trust (the CEC). There is no controversy. He crosses, place the ballot paper in the box and the ballot box is taken back to the polling centre. To them, this does not create any issue at all," he said. In BUKHARA, a city described as a "city museum," about two hours by flight from Tashkent, the head of the local election commission Daminov Mirzakhid Islomovich told Bernama that a high voter turnout of 90 per cent in Uzbekistan was "natural," stressing that the voters were free to choose and vote for a leader who could lead their country. According to the CEC, 17,122,597 or 90.39 per cent voted for Karimov while the other three candidates - Akmal Saidov Kholmatovich received 582,688 or 3.08 per cent votes, Ketmonov Hotamjon Abdurakhmanovich obtained 552,309 or 2.92 per cent cent votes and Umarov Narimon Madjitovich obtained 389,024 or 2.05 per cent votes. --BERNAMA