OSCE/ODIHR OFFICIAL DISCUSSES PLANS FOR UZBEKISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 002115 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL UZ US SUBJECT: OSCE/ODIHR OFFICIAL DISCUSSES PLANS FOR UZBEKISTAN ELECTION OBSERVATION Classified By: Poloff Steven Prohaska for reasons 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Ambassador Walter Siegl, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission, met with foreign diplomats on December 12 to discuss Uzbekistan's upcoming Presidential Elections. The mission is here to evaluate how the elections are conducted and will make recommendations if needed. OSCE/ODIHR election observers--who will be dispersed throughout the country--will work closely with authorities and will speak with a variety of entities about the elections. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Austrian Ambassador Walter Siegl, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission, met with a variety of foreign diplomats on December 12 at Tashkent's Hotel Intercontinental to discuss the mission's goals and to exchange views on the upcoming December 23 Presidential Elections. U.S., UK, German, French, and Italian Ambassadors attended along with over a dozen other diplomats from European and Central Asian countries. Siegl introduced eight members of his team, whose responsibilities include media, political, and legal analysis, as well as logistics and security. Mission Goals -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Siegl said he would tell us what he had told Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Central Election Commission (CEC). First, the mission is here to evaluate whether election preparations are consistent with international commitments and domestic legislation, based on the mission's observations and data gleaned from other sources. Second, the mission will make appropriate recommendations if necessary. Siegl said that there were immutable principles that the mission had to adhere to, but there could be some flexibility in the procedures they would follow. The mission will apply standards that it has used in over 100 other missions over the years. He emphasized that they have come here without bias, without preconceived notions, and with no "interventionist" plans. Process and Communication of Findings -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The mission will work closely with Uzbekistan's authorities, Siegl continued, particularly the CEC. It will also work in complete transparency and communicate findings to the CEC because it wants to hear the CEC's comments. The mission will not speak with the media; it is under strict instructions not to say anything to the press other than factual information such as the number of its observers and where they will be located. Siegl noted that the OSCE/ODIHR observers were being deployed to Nukus, Samarkand, Bukhara, Ferghana, and Tashkent. These observers will meet with political parties, presidential candidates or their representatives, NGOs, the Supreme Court, and other entities. ¶5. (SBU) Siegl said the mission will issue a press release the day after the elections. It will not hold a press conference or issue a preliminary statement. Instead, the team will publish a full report on the elections roughly two weeks later. Siegl concluded his formal remarks by offering his congratulations to the Kazakh diplomat present for Kazakhstan's upcoming chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010. He noted that Central Asia is moving to the center of the OSCE and ODIHR, raising significant policy issues as the concept of universal democratic values runs into the notion of tailoring democratic practice to fit the history and traditions of the newest OSCE member states. ¶6. (C) Siegl also was interested to hear of Post's plans for an informal election observation effort. He expressed interest in making contact with all nations and organizations which plan to conduct informal election observations, and noted that the GOU has invited many nations and organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to observe. British, Japanese, German, and Czech diplomatic colleagues also have told us privately that they are considering conducting their own observation efforts as well. ¶7. (C) In response to a side-bar question from the Ambassador, the OSCE Mission's legal analyst, a Ukrainian lawyer, confirmed that the Mission had raised with the CEC the issue of the constitutionality of Karimov's re-election. The CEC's response had been that the President's re-election bid was consistent with the Constitution, as amended, because in effect the clock had not started ticking on his "first" seven-year term until the year 2000. The legal analyst noted that the OSCE Mission had yet to see the GOU position in this regard laid out definitively in a public setting (Note: Neither have we. End note.) The Mission would continue to solicit views on this question through its contacts around the country and with foreign embassies. Comment: -------------- ¶8. (C) Ambassador Siegl appears to be trying to avoid causing the GOU public embarrassment. Uzbekistan has eschewed the Russian example and seems rather to be following the example of neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, both of which managed to bridge the divide and allow monitors in recent, flawed elections. The Karimov regime probably feels it has the security situation and pre-election preparations well under control and so can afford now to cooperate with the OSCE/ODIHR. NORLAND