2021 Uzbek Presidential Election

Presidential elections were held in Uzbekistan on 24 October 2021. 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 received more than 5% of the vote.

Mirziyoyev was widely expected to win the official count by a large margin. 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of the candidates, celebrity singer Jahongir Otajonov, who was backed by the banned Erk Democratic Party (EDP), being withdrawn from the race due to apparent political intimidation. 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.

In the aftermath of the election, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued a statement: "Despite recent welcoming reforms Uzbekistan's presidential election lacked genuine competition and significant procedural irregularities were noted on election day." Observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) described the presidential election as "competitive, free, open and transparent."

Shavkat Mirziyoyev was inaugurated for his second term on 6 November. He was sworn in at the senate building at the joint session of the two chambers of the Parliament.

Background

The 2016 Uzbek presidential election was held following the death of incumbent President Islam Karimov on 2 September of that year. The Constitution of Uzbekistan mandated that the election be held within three months of Karimov's death. 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. The last time an Uzbek president has faced a serious challenger in an election was in 1991, the year of the country's independence.

Under Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan's political system has continued to be tightly controlled. Mirziyoyev was eligible under the country's constitution to serve a second term, 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". While a variety of parties ran in the 2019–20 parliamentary election, all of them were considered to be loyal to the government. In May 2020, the Uzbek government announced reforms to 'liberalise' its media and electoral laws. It has also claimed that it will ease campaign finance regulations and allow private donations. 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".

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". 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.

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". 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.

While the Uzbek government's May 2020 announcement promised "liberalisation" of media laws, claiming it would no longer use libel and slander laws to imprison journalists and bloggers who criticized it, the Agency of Information and Mass Communications continued to revoke media licenses well into November 2020. 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"; 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. This decision created public and media outrage; 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". 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."

On 8 February 2021, Mirziyoyev signed a bill, approved by the Parliament, to move the election day from December to 24 October 2021.

Electoral system

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. 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. Other irregularities reported by the OSCE include ballot stuffing and improper proxy voting.

Candidates

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.

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. 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.

Registered

Candidates within the registered political party are required to collect at least 1% (or 212,000) of signatures of the total number of electorate. Article 38 of the Electoral Code allows for voters to sign for the support of one or more presidential nominees while Article 39 gives the CEC the functions in checking the signature lists within five days with minimum of 15% being subjected for verification.

Disqualified

Khidirnazar Allakulov

File:Khidirnazar Allaqulov.jpg, Khidirnazar Allakulov (65)
Leader of the Truth and Progress Social Democratic Party
(since 2021)
Rector of the
(2002–2004)

In May 2020, Khidirnazar Allakulov expressed his desire to participate in the presidential elections, sharply criticising the results of Mirziyoyev's first term. In his opinion, the potential reforms in the country have been stopped and its reverse is being "tightened", the problems of poverty and unemployment have not been resolved, the fight against corruption is not yielding results, and Uzbekistan has accumulated over $25 billion in foreign debt, and a growing nepotism revolving around Mirziyoyev's family has appeared.

In March 2021, Allakulov initiated the creation of the opposition Truth and Progress Social Democratic Party (HTSDP). However, the party has repeatedly been denied registration by the authorities, with the official reasons being that the party's documents are not in order and that the party has not collected enough signatures. Despite the party testifying that they had collected 25,000 signatures, the authorities claimed that only 9,873 had been collected. The refusal to register opposition groups on account of their 'lack of signatures' is a common tactic employed by the authorities to restrict opposition. Significant political pressure has been placed on Allakulov and his party. Allakulov was accosted in his apartment building by a mob of people in April, and afterwards was fined for 'libel' after the crowd filed a lawsuit against him. Law enforcement officials have allegedly been holding meetings with university students to insist that they should not join new parties, specifically the opposition HTSDP and Erk parties, because they were "spreading destructive misinformation".

Jahongir Otajonov

File:Blank portrait, male (rectangular).png, Jahongir Otajonov
Pop singer

In January 2021, Jahongir Otajonov on his Instagram page announced his interest in participating in politics by bidding for the presidency, similarly to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's fate. He later announced that he had joined the People's Interests Democratic Party, a centre-right political party that was in the process of being formed. At the founding congress of the party which was held at Otajonov's home, unknown female provocateurs broke into his house and began to behave aggressively, shouting and accusing the singer and those present of being in the drug trade in maintaining a brothel, resulting in the constituent congress of the party being put off. Subsequent efforts of the party activists received fierce opposition from the Uzbek security forces and provocateurs. After increasing political pressure and harassment on Otajonov, he left Tashkent by settling in Istanbul, Turkey, where he lived prior and did business for several years during Islam Karimov's presidency. From there, he began criticising the former and current leadership of Uzbekistan by drawing attention on the scale of corruption, nepotism and embezzlement within the country, to the depressing standard of living of ordinary citizens. Otajonov also pledged that if he came to power, then he'd end Karimov's legacy by demolishing monuments across the country dedicated to him. At the end of March 2021, a group of unknown persons visited Otajonov's office in Istanbul, threatening to "beat and punish him well".

Otajonov in early April posted join photos on Facebook with the former 1991 presidential nominee, dissident, leader of the Erk Democratic Party and the People's Movement of Uzbekistan Muhammad Salih. He also announced that he had left the People's Interests party and became a member of the unregistered and banned Erk party. After that, a video message from Otajonov's mother appeared on social media, where she pledged for him to leave his political ambitions behind and not become "a traitor to the Motherland” by cooperating with Salih in which she referred him as "the villain and enemy of the people." As a result, speculations arose that Otajonov's mother during the recording was allegedly reading from a pre-written script supposedly given by the Uzbek security forces. In May 2021, Otajnov returned to Uzbekistan where he pledged to start up activities of the banned Erk party and to contest the presidential race. While campaigning, unknown and uninvited individuals showed up at Erk party public meetings and at Otajonov's home, disturbing proceedings and calling for him to quit politics. His vehicle was also impounded by police, and when he complained about this on his Instagram page, police started an investigation into whether his comments constituted an "insult". After being attacked in the stairwell of his apartments, Otajonov was also sued after his public complaints were found to have "insulted the honour and dignity" of the attackers.

On 10 July 2021, Otajonov announced that he was withdrawing from the election after enduring numerous attacks. In a post on his Instagram page, Otajonov said that the stresses on his family were too much, commenting: "What's the point of being a president if something bad happens to them?". Two days after he published his statement, the post was removed for unknown reasons. It was not clear whether Otajonov had removed it or whether Uzbek authorities had blocked it to avoid speculation about pressure being placed on him. In any case, Otajonov's party Erk has as of yet still been denied official registration by the Uzbek authorities, with the official reason given for this being that the party's documents were "incomplete" or that not all of its signatures were valid. This is a commonly used tactic for the authorities to repress political opposition.

Nominations

Ecological Party of Uzbekistan (O'EP)

The Ecological Party of Uzbekistan (O'EP) held its Extraordinary Plenum on 4 August 2021, becoming the first party in the election to do so, in which the O'EP's Central Apparatus Executive Committee chairman Narzullo Oblomurodov was put forward as the candidate. It was noted at the party's plenum that it would aim at solving the environmental problems in the campaign race by attracting public attention, offering solutions, and protection of public health by ensuring a wellbeing quality of life.

On 27 August, Oblomurodov unveiled his election platforms which consisted of paying great attention towards issues in regards to environment and finding solutions as well as improving the "ecological culture" of the population. In an interview to Upl.uz, Oblomurodov stated that the O'EP willingly chose to participate in the presidential elections "with dignity", saying that the party would have only opted out of the race, if it had not been confident in its abilities.

The Ecological Party of Uzbekistan (O'EP) is a pro-government party.

Justice Social Democratic Party (ASDP)

On 5 August 2021, the Justice Social Democratic Party (ASDP) held a meeting from where the party chairman was presented as the presidential nominee.

Abduhalimov, on 9 September 2021, was unanimously elected as the candidate for presidency by the ASDP delegates at the 10th Ordinary Congress along with his election platforms being approved. At the congress, the party prompted for its activists to bring forwards the details of Abduhalimov's electoral programmes to the "consciousness of the people" is an urgently manner.

The Justice Social Democratic Party (ASDP) is a pro-government party.

Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party (MT)

The Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party (Milliy Tiklanish) at the 6 August 2021 plenum presented party chairman Alisher Qodirov as a candidate. From there, Qodirov stated that he would participate as a way to "make a worthy contribution to the development of Uzbekistan", outlining his vision of the country being list of developed country and to improve wellbeing of its citizens.

On 26 August, Qodirov at the 7th Milliy Tiklanish Ordinary Congress was officially nominated by the party after garnering majority of delegate vote. From there, he presented his campaign programme under slogan of ''Development on the basis of national values!'' ( Uzbek: ''Milliy qadriyatlar asosida rivojlanish!'') which consisted of five priority areas in focusing on the "formation of a national system of upbringing and education on the basis of national and universal values". After unveiling his platforms, Qodirov received backlash from the Justice Social Democratic Party, accusing him of plagiarising theses from the party's programme that was approved prior in 2019 in a statement and called upon Qodirov and the Milliy Tiklanish to be more aware about other rivaling parties' platforms.

The Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party is a pro-government party.

Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (O'zLiDeP)

At the Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (O'zLiDeP) Political Council meeting held on 7 August 2021, a decision was adopted in the participation of the presidential election in which the party proposed to nominate incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for the race.

The 10th OzLiDeP Ordinary Congress was held on 9 September 2021 which was attended by around 1,200 party delegates. From there Mirziyoyev accepted the nomination offer by the party to run for another term, pledging to continue in implementing political reforms and solves issues such as combatting poverty, increasing the GDP and salaries for kindergarten staff, reducing public debt, and allowing for the direct elections of hokims (local heads) in which the party members at the congress praised the already existing current policies which were enacted by Mirziyoyev in his first five years as a president. In an interview to BBC
...