KARIMOV REPORTEDLY ACCEPTS NOMINATION FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001932 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM UZ SUBJECT: KARIMOV REPORTEDLY ACCEPTS NOMINATION FOR RE-ELECTION REF: TASHKENT 1810 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: P/E Section Chief Ted Burkhalter; reasons 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (SBU) Two websites, Press-uz.info and Uzmetronom, on November 6 reported that President Karimov's Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (LDPU) had met that day and formalized its nomination of the president for re-election. The articles implied that Karimov has accepted his party's nomination. The President himself reportedly delivered a speech setting out the party's agenda for the coming term. Press-uz.info, which is in our view a barely disguised government mouthpiece, predicts that the official LDPU newspaper will provide full details in its November 7 edition. ¶2. (SBU) According to press-uz, all five political parties represented in the Parliament have now officially nominated their candidates (see reftel for further details). Uzmetronom speculates that only Akmal Saidov, the lone "independent" candidate who heads the GOU's National Center for Human Rights, may not be able to complete the formalities in time for the election. Press-uz gave a slightly different impression on Saidov's candidacy, but the details are unclear. Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) Websites are notoriously inaccurate here, so it remains to be confirmed that President Karimov has formally accepted his party's nomination. Nevertheless, with the clock ticking toward voting day on December 23, we expect to see any day that Karimov has in fact done so. At that point, it will remain to be seen whether the GOU will feel compelled to address the criticism of some outsiders (and the few vocal critics of the GOU within Uzbekistan) that he is banned by the Constitution from a third term. Draft contingency press guidance -------------- ¶4. (C) Our public stance for the moment should reflect our desire to hold the GOU to the fine sounding commitments they have made in their constitution and in signing up to various international commitments. As the election process moves forward, we will need to calibrate our public stance to reflect shifting developments. ¶5. (SBU) Suggested guidance follows: ¶Q. What is the USG reaction to President Karimov's nomination for another term? ¶A. We congratulate all candidates on their nominations and look forward to a free and fair election that fully accords with the requirements of the Uzbek constitution and international norms. We encourage the Government of Uzbekistan to facilitate the work of election observers from the OSCE and other international organizations. NORLAND