OSCE/ODIHR mission issues report on presidential elections in Uzbekistan
25/11/2016 00:02
OSCE/ODIHR mission issues report on presidential elections in Uzbekistan
25/11/2016 00:02
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) issued a report on presidential elections in Uzbekistan.
The report said that the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced presidential elections on 9 September 2016 and set the election day to 4 December 2016 in line with the requirement of the Constitution and the law “On election of the President of Uzbekistan”.
The report said that in December 2015, following the last presidential election, some amendments were introduced to the law on presidential election, the Law on the CEC and other election-related laws.
Namely, the number of supporting signatures required for candidate registration was lowered from five to one per cent of voters nationwide and an obligation was introduced for the CEC to publish its resolutions on its website, in line with previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. In addition, the legal provisions on campaigning and early voting were elaborated.
The presidential election is administered by the CEC, 14 District Election Commissions (DECs) and 9,378 Precinct Election Commissions (PECs). The CEC is a permanent body, while DECs and PECs are set up for each election. State and local institutions are obliged to provide logistical and operational support to election commissions.
The CEC has 16 members and is appointed for an indefinite term by the parliament, based on regional council proposals. CEC members elect a chairperson from amongst themselves, based on the president’s nomination. Five members are permanent while the others work on a voluntary basis. They reside in their respective regions and meet in the capital when sessions are convened. Two CEC members are women.
According to the law, ballots are printed in the State language and potentially in other languages in areas where other languages are broadly spoken or used. A CEC resolution prescribes publishing ballots in three languages: Uzbek, Russian and Karakalpak, and another resolution stipulates that state-owned national newspapers should provide candidates with free print space for campaign messages in Russian, Tajik and Kazakh.
The report said that the CEC launched an intensive voter awareness campaign to increase voter turnout, as well as televised spots against proxy voting. For the first time, some ballot papers will be printed in Braille.
The campaign is moderately visible, with the four political parties opting for a similar array of campaign materials and following uniform outreach strategies. Each contestant has 642 billboards displayed across the country and equal access to 36 electronic screens to broadcast campaign messages. All candidates are touring the country and holding meetings organized with the help of the election administration and are well-attended, often by local dignitaries invited by local party branches. For the first time candidates employ video-conferencing to reach a higher number of voters.
During an election year, parties receive additional public funding for campaign-related expenses. For this election, each party is entitled to approximately UZS 1 billion (some EUR 294,000).
Private funding specifically to parties or candidates for campaigning is prohibited; however, funds may be donated to the CEC which is required to distribute them equally among contestants.
Political parties are required to submit campaign finance reports on their expenditures to the CEC within 20 days after the publication of election results. In addition, they are required to publish income in party newspapers and the official party websites within one month after the publication of election results. The Chamber of Accounts and the Ministry of Finance are mandated with monitoring compliance with party and campaign finance regulations.
Political party and international observers may observe all stages of the electoral process and may receive copies of results protocols. Only international observers are entitled to conduct press-conferences and give interviews.
The report also includes some shortages and problems in electoral process, elimination of which will assist to organize elections in higher and quality level.
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