Uzbek polls denounced by banned opposition as sham

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23449565.htm

TASHKENT, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Uzbekistan, a close ally of the United States in its "war on terror", votes on Sunday in parliamentary elections officially hailed as a step towards democracy, but branded by critics as a travesty of free choice.

Autocratic president Islam Karimov, 66, who has ruled the largely agrarian nation since Soviet times, will yield little if anything to rivals. The opposition is banned from the Lower House polls and an estimated 6,000 dissidents have been jailed.

"There is no legitimate opposition, and the election of a two-chamber parliament is meant to boost the personal power of the president and the small group of state elite and clans close to him," said independent political analyst Bakhodyr Musayev.

The vote coincides with a re-run of a presidential poll in Ukraine, another ex-Soviet state where hundreds of thousands protested against the outcome of the original vote subsequently declared to have been rigged in favour of the prime minister.

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[alexwcovington]

1. Well duh

The guy's election is about as proper as a Saudi trial. Not that current foreign policy initiatives will take issue with either fact.