Although on Monday 28 October the European Union welcomed the progress made in the revised legal framework in the wake of the parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan, which were won by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Liberal Democratic Party, it notes that there are still shortcomings and that the political environment remains constrained, “not offering voters a real choice”.
The EU is thus reacting to the preliminary assessment of the election observation mission of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), which highlights in particular the efforts to facilitate voting by people with disabilities and the fact that at least 40% of the seats in the new parliament will now be held by women.
However, the EU regrets that only parties formally approved by the government were allowed to nominate their candidates, “which led to the absence of opposition parties during the competition”.
The OSCE assessment also noted several cases of violations, malfeasance and procedural and technical problems identified on polling day, as well as a failure to respect guarantees “calling into question the integrity of the process and compromising transparency”. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)