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