Karimov speech spells out priorities for 2010

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/07
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID UZ
SUBJECT: Karimov speech spells out priorities for 2010

CLASSIFIED BY: Duane C Butcher, DCM, State, EXEC; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (U) President Islom Karimov invited the Diplomatic Corps and an
array of local dignitaries to the annual commemoration of
Uzbekistan's Constitution Day December 5th at the impressive new
white marble "Palace of Forums" on Amir Timur Square. These
speeches are generally a review of the last calendar year as well
as a statement of the government's priority for the next. 2009 was
the "Year of rural development," and 2010 will be the "Year of
Harmonious Generations." This appears to indicate an emphasis on
education at all levels, harkening back to 2008 as the "Year of
Youth" with perhaps an additional hint of concern for "Uzbek
values" under attack from the forces of "mass culture."




2. (U) Karimov began the speech by describing the importance of
the December 27th local and parliamentary elections, emphasizing
that they must be beyond reproach, that no one should be able to
improperly influence the results. He said not only that they
should be held on the basis of "transparency, freedom, and
fairness," but that the "suggestions and views" of outside
observers must be treated "respectfully and attentively." He
framed the elections as a test of the "level and maturity of civil
society in our country," and asked "to what extent [is Uzbekistan]
ready to stand such a complex and responsible political test and
hold these electoral processes at the level of electoral system now
effective in the developed democratic states."




3. (U) In a summary of the results of 2009, he listed an array of
statistics documenting his government's efforts to improve life in
Uzbekistan's villages and countryside. He described impressive
levels of investment in new housing, schools, and other
infrastructure. He emphasized the construction of schools, and
especially the installation of computers and broader access to the
Internet. He also declared that investment in rural areas would
continue at least at the same rate in the next year.




4. (U) In introducing 2010 as the "Year of Harmonious
Generations," Karimov said that the "core essence of life" is
"bringing up our children physically and spiritually healthy, being
inferior in nothing to no one, see their happiness and prosperous
future." His prescription for achieving this goal is to create
"the necessary conditions for the youth to acquire...deep knowledge
and modern professions" and to train a "highly qualified workforce,
young specialists capable of taking on responsibility for the
future and further development of the country." This means
improving state educational standards at secondary and higher
levels, and introducing new information and pedagogical
technologies. He repeated that it "is really significant to create
a still broader basis of introducing the latest information and
computer technology, digital and broadband telecommunications and
internet," not only at educational institutions but also "in the
life of each family." After reiterating the importance of
education to the future success of the country, he also warned that
vigilance was necessary against the attacks of "mass culture"
against the "centuries-old values of our people." (Note: Karimov
and the GOU frequently emphasize education and note with some pride
that investment in education is one of the single largest items in
Uzbekistan's state budget since independence.)




5. (C) President Karimov appeared fit and in command of his
material. He read the prepared portions of his speech clearly, but
became animated several times when he put down his reading glasses
and entered into several-minute-long sometimes humorous ad-libbed
asides. In one he described how Uzbeks all came from villages and
all had relatives in villages, that now one is proud to be from a
"kishlak" which a few years ago would have been thought
embarrassing. In the longest departure from his prepared text, he
entered into a lengthy condemnation of the leadership of Russia,
accusing them of blaming the United States for all of their
problems and of neglecting the opportunity to reinvest their oil
revenue into the development of their country. Where, he asked,
would Uzbekistan be if it were still relying exclusively on cotton
instead of concentrating on developing the manufacturing
industries? Karimov's prepared remarks were met with regular
polite applause, but his asides were greeted with markedly more
enthusiasm, including several standing ovations. The entire

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ceremony was characterized by a studious lack of the personality
cult that Karimov often criticizes in his colleagues: he spoke at
a normal sized podium with an arrangement of white flowers in front
of it, in front of a small Uzbek flag with a much larger Uzbek flag
forming a backdrop to the entire stage. The audience stood and
applauded his arrival and departure, with enthusiasm but no
excessive displays of adulation; no picture of the President was to
be seen anywhere in the ceremony or in the building itself.




6. (C) Comment and Action Request: While this speech was
unremarkable in itself, the emphasis on expanding access to
information technology and the internet is an outstanding
opportunity for the USG in both the long and the short term. In
the long term, increased access for the Uzbek population to the
modern world of information can only further our goal of improving
human rights, and developing civil society. It would also
complement with renewed USG efforts to make use of new media in our
public diplomacy, not to mention decreasing the population's
reliance on Russia's heavily biased broadcast media. In the very
short run, this emphasis on information technology suggests a
terrific "low-hanging" deliverable for the imminent bilateral
consultations. Post urgently recommends that the Department
consider a package of assistance to Uzbekistan along these lines
that could be offered at least in principle at the consultations
themselves. Possible forms could be a major donation of computers
to schools or school children, or some type of investment in
Uzbekistan's woefully narrow internet backbone. Most here agree
that the biggest problem with the internet here is not censorship,
which is quite easy to avoid, but capacity. An investment in
improved access by normal Uzbeks to the internet can only benefit
us, as well as providing a nice sweetener for the upcoming talks,
especially as it dovetails nicely with President Karimov's newly
announced priority for the next year. This would be a positive
(and non-controversial) way to give FM Norov something to take home
and get the nascent bilateral consultations off to an auspicious
start.
BUTCHER