ODIHR experts present reports on recent referendum and presidential election and discuss recommendations in Uzbekistan

Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the final reports on Uzbekistan’s 2023 constitutional referendum and early presidential election during a visit to Tashkent that took place from 26 to 28 March 2024.

“The interest shown in our reports and recommendations was noteworthy. We had frank and open discussions on all relevant subject matters,” said Urszula Gacek, Head of the ODIHR Election Observation Mission for the 9 July presidential vote. “We hope that the openness and collaboration demonstrated during the visit will translated into tangible improvements as part of the upcoming elections.”

ODIHR experts discussed their key findings and recommendations with representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Central Election Commission, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications, the parliament’s lower chamber, as well as with representatives of political parties, civil society and the international community. and

The discussions covered both the recent amendments to electoral legislation and the recommendations that are yet to be implemented. Priority areas highlighted include: removing restrictions on the fundamental rights of expression, peaceful assembly and association; revising administrative requirements for the registration of political parties; strengthening the independence of election administration; introducing further safeguards against multiple voting; enabling citizen election observation by independent civil society organizations; and ensuring honest counting and publication of voting results disaggregated by polling station.

ODIHR experts also suggested potential areas for collaboration with national institutions to bring the process in line with OSCE commitments and international standards, offering support through legal reviews and thematic workshops. The authorities expressed an interest in engaging in further discussions to address these recommendations.

ODIHR’s election observation methodology includes an assessment of countries’ efforts to implement previous recommendations through changes in legislation, procedures and practices.  For Uzbekistan, the latest ODIHR observation mission evaluated the follow-up to recommendations from the ODIHR final reports on the 2019 parliamentary elections and the 2021 presidential election. The reports concluded that seven recommendations had been fully implemented, five mostly implemented and 15 partially addressed, while others remain to be carried out.

In the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Document, all OSCE participating States committed themselves to “follow up promptly the ODIHR’s election assessment and recommendations”.