Presidential election in Uzbekistan 2007
The 2007 presidential election in Uzbekistan took place on December 23, 2007 in the Republic of Uzbekistan . The president of Uzbekistan, which has been independent since 1991, was elected. The winner of the election was Islom Karimov , who has held the highest political office in Uzbekistan since 1991.
Suffrage
In Uzbekistan, the president is elected directly by the people through a majority vote. The elected president must achieve an absolute majority of the votes cast with a turnout of more than 50%. If none of the candidates in the first ballot succeeds, a runoff election between the two most successful candidates in the first ballot was planned. In view of the mostly clear majority in presidential elections in Uzbekistan, this scenario was only of theoretical significance.
The question of the legality of Karimov's candidacy caused great controversy. The Uzbek constitution originally provided for a presidential term of office to be limited to two terms, each of which should last five years. Karimov was elected president for the first time in the 1991 presidential election in Uzbekistan and extended his term by referendum until 2000, so that his first term lasted nine years. In Uzbekistan’s presidential election in 2000 , Karimov was elected for a second term and subsequently extended the presidential term from five to seven years. Before the 2007 election, Karimov had already served two terms and 16 years in office, but he ran again. On November 19, 2007, the responsible electoral commission announced a short notice that Karimov's candidacy for the office of president was admissible. This move led to severe criticism from the country's largest opposition parties, Erk and Birlik. Representatives of the parties referred to the violation of constitutional law and described those responsible for the election commission as criminals .
Candidates
Four candidates ran for the presidential election in Uzbekistan. In addition to Karimov, three other politicians, who were admitted to the election by the electoral authorities and were considered loyal to the president, ran:
| candidate | Political party | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Islom Karimov | Liberal Democratic Party | Incumbent since 1991 |
| Asliddin Rustamov | People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan | Chairman of the People's Democratic Party |
| Dilorom Tashmukhamedova | Adolat | Group leader of the social democratic party Adolat |
| Akmal Saidov | independently | Head of the National Center for Human Rights and the Parliamentary Committee for Democratic Institutions and NGOs |
This enabled three parties to nominate their own candidate, and Akmal Saidov was also nominated through an initiative of voters. This option is part of the Uzbek electoral law but requires high formal requirements, including the signatures of supporters, the number of which had to correspond to 5% of the citizens eligible to vote. These high hurdles and the lack of transparency in the evaluation of the signatures by the electoral commission prevented the candidacy of opposition candidates and ensured a politically homogeneous field of applicants, which did not represent political competition for Karimov.
Election campaign
In view of the minor differences in content between the candidates, there was no real election campaign, and the candidates' options were strictly limited. Election posters and other materials were produced and distributed centrally by the election commission. Even election campaign events could not be organized by the candidates, but always by the election commission. Criticism of the president's course was not expressed by the candidates during the election campaign. Only the opposition, which was not represented in the field of applicants, criticized the framework conditions and the procedure of the electoral commission in the run-up to the presidential election.
Result
As expected by all observers in advance, incumbent Karimov won the election with a clear lead over the other candidates. The official turnout was given as 90.6%.
| candidate | Votes (absolute) | Votes (relative) |
|---|---|---|
| Islom Karimov | 13.008.357 | 88.1% |
| Asliddin Rustamov | 468.064 | 3.17% |
| Dilorom Tashmukhamedova | 434.111 | 2.94% |
| Akmal Saidov | 420,815 | 2.85% |
With this clear victory, Karimov was re-elected for another seven-year term and only had to stand for re- election in the 2015 presidential election in Uzbekistan .
rating
The opposition criticized the entire electoral process and stated that there was no rule of law in Uzbekistan . The opposition described the election itself as a farce , as it would not have enabled any political alternatives to Karimov. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) sent a needs assessment mission ahead of the election and a limited observation mission of 26 observers on election day. The OSCE observers came to the conclusion that the election clearly missed democratic criteria and could in no way be described as free and fair. Among other things, the registration process was criticized, which enabled Karimov to run for another candidate, but did not allow opposition candidates. The lack of political competition and the lack of a controversial election campaign were also criticized by the observers, since in this way the voters were ultimately not given a real vote. In addition, the suspicion of election fraud was raised, as observers in particular questioned the information on voter turnout.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Official Nod To Karimov Uzbek Presidential Bid Draws Fire. Accessed April 13, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Uzbek Party Signals Plan To Nominate Karimov For Third Term. Accessed April 13, 2020 .
- ↑ Uzbek Incumbent Wins Poll Without 'Genuine Choice'. Accessed April 13, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Field Of Presidential Hopefuls Wider, Not Deeper. Accessed April 13, 2020 (English).
- ↑ OSCE (ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission Final Report . Warsaw April 23, 2008, p. 21 .
- ↑ Uzbek voters 'offered no choice' . December 24, 2007 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed April 13, 2020]).
- ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): OSCE Observers Say Uzbek Elections Undemocratic | DW | 12/24/2007. Retrieved April 13, 2020 (UK English).
- ^ Luke Harding: Uzbek president returned in election 'farce' . In: The Guardian . December 24, 2007, ISSN 0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed April 13, 2020]).
