TASHKENT -- A delegation from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) says a presidential election held in Uzbekistan in October 2021 lacked competition, allowing incumbent Shavkat Mirziyoev to win without facing any serious challenger.
The assessment of the delegation, released on June 15, said that there was no constructive communication between the five presidential candidates and voters, and that significant procedural irregularities were observed while important safeguards were often disregarded during voting on October 24.
"While multiple candidates contested the election, there was no meaningful engagement with each other or with voters, and candidates refrained from challenging or criticizing the incumbent," ODIHR's final report said.
Among the irregularities seen, the report stressed the "large-scale practice of voters being added to the voter lists on election day at polling stations without judicial or administrative oversight," while candidates did not have enough media space to express their opinions, despite some opening of the media environment.
"No candidate strongly challenged or spoke critically about the president's policies," the document said.
ODIHR delegation member Jakub Herold of Poland stressed that it was impossible for some new political parties to register before the election.
"While observing the election, I learned that more candidates wanted to take part in the poll, but the election commission did not register them. That reminded me of elections in Belarus, and that is wrong, actually," Herold told RFE/RL.
"The lack of a genuine competitive environment and extremely high requirements for the registration of new parties disrupted the political atmosphere's pluralistic character."
Mirziyoev, 64, faced four little-known candidates who were largely pro-government. Three opposition parties were not allowed to register or have candidates in the race.
Mirziyoev opened up Central Asia's most-populous country of some 35 million people to foreign investment, improved relations with neighboringcountries, eased restrictions on religious freedoms, and released dozens of political prisoners after he came to power following the death of his authoritarian predecessor, Islam Karimov, in 2016.
But like his predecessor, Mirziyoev exercises virtually unrestrained political power in Uzbekistan and his relatives have been accused of using his political clout to amass wealth.