Uzbeks Go To The Polls Again, This Time To Choose Their President

By Nor Faridah Abd Rashid KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- After going through parliamentary elections on Dec 21 last year, the people of Uzbekistan will once again go to the polls on March 29, this time to choose their president, another important event that will take the country towards the building of a democratic system of government. Uzbekistan Ambassador to Malaysia Murad Askarov said Uzbekistan’s Central Election Committee had announced that the campaign period for the presidential election started on Dec 26. At a briefing on the presidential election at the embassy here recently, the ambassador said that according to Article 89 of the Uzbekistan Constitution the president is the Head of State and executive authority. Askarov said Uzbekistan, which obtained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, had evolved into the current state through the spirit of its people to build a new country with its own political system. He noted that more than 60 per cent of Uzbekistan’s population is under 35 years of age, making the country a young nation, and in the process of transition to a democratic system of government with a strong civil society. During the briefing, the envoy also took note of the Dec 21 parliamentary elections where observers were impressed with the massive turnout of the youths to elect 135 members out of the 150-seat lower house of parliament, the Oliy Majlis, which will chart the path of the country’s development. Observers also took note of the high voter turnout, of over 88 per cent. Under Uzbekistan's electoral process, the remaining 15 seats automatically went to the pro-government Ecological Movement. Malaysia established diplomatic relations with Uzbekistan, one of the world's biggest producers of cotton and rich in natural resources including oil, gas and gold, in February 1992. According to international reports, the Uzbek-Electoral officials have cleared candidates from four political parties to run in the presidential election, including current President Islam Karimov from the Liberal Democratic Party. Karimov, who has ruled the country for the past two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, won a new seven-year term in December 2007. In 2012, Uzbekistan's parliament amended the constitution to shorten the presidential term from seven to five years. The other three candidates are Khatamjan Ketmonov of the People's Democratic Party; Narimon Umarov of the Social Democratic Adolat (Justice) Party, and Akmal Saidov of the Democratic National Renaissance Party. Uzbekistan has a population of 31 million with over 20 million registered voters. During the parliamentary elections ,some 300 foreign observers from over 50 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and America were invited to ensure the transparency and openness of the elections. Malaysia‘s five-member team of observers was led by Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah. The other members were former EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, who is currently special officer at the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office; EC division secretary (data analyst) Syed Ahmad Bashah Syed Anwar; senior lawyer and Gandhi Memorial Trust Malaysia chairman S. Radhakrishnan and Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute senior vice-president Max Say. It is expected that foreign observers will also be invited to ensure an open and transparent presidential election. -- BERNAMA