Political Pluralism Remains Distant Prospect

Uzbekistan has formally introduced constitutional amendments and a new law to strengthen the role of political parties, but NBCentralAsia analysts advise caution – this may look like a democratic step, but in fact no opposition parties are currently allowed to operate within the system.



Last week, President Islam Karimov signed off on a new law on political parties and amendments to the constitution assign a greater role to parliamentary groups and parties in controlling the executive. He proposed the changes last autumn, and both houses of the Uzbek parliament gave their approval at the end of March. The changes will come into force in January 2008.



Under the new provisions, political parties and parliamentary groups will have more of a say in appointing the prime minister and regional governors. Political factions in the lower house of parliament will also have the right to initiate the procedure for sacking the prime minister.



Government officials say the changes will help Uzbekistan speed up its evolution into a democracy with a robust civil society.



Analysts say that in strictly legal terms, these amendments can be viewed as progress towards political pluralism, but in reality alternative parties are allowed to play little role in the current system and this is unlikely to change.



“These legal changes do have the potential to gradually strengthen the role of parties. It’s important that the law now states that political pluralism means the executive must be subject to controls,” said a foreign researcher working on Uzbek politics in Tashkent. “But we should remember that formal political structures are often a front for more informal arrangements.”



He said that since pro-presidential parties dominate parliament and political alliances are generated by the authorities rather than civil society, it is difficult to argue that the legislature has acquired substantially greater powers.



A local analyst based in Tashkent said he doubted the new party law would amount to much since “the same old parties, groupings and individuals were present in the political arena”.



There are five parties officially registered in Uzbekistan, all of which hold seats in the current parliament. Their political views are very similar and all of them support the president.



Opposition parties like Birlik and Erk are banned and cannot stand for election.



The analyst believes the new legislation has been passed merely to show the international community that Uzbekistan is making progress on democratic reforms as the European Union prepares to review sanctions against the country, and also ahead of a presidential election scheduled for December.



The EU imposed sanctions on Uzbekistan after the authorities refused to launch an investigation into what happened in Andijan in May 2005 when government forces opened fire on civilians, killing hundreds. Uzbekistan has come under heavy criticism for its poor human rights record but the EU is to review its sanctions in May.



Another NBCentralAsia observer based in Tashkent said “timing is all-important” given that Karimov’s term in office officially expired in January this year, and the legitimacy of his position has been called into question.



“This activity on the legislative front could distract attention from the presidential election which [technically] should have happened in January. It also comes at a time of increasing engagement with the EU,” he said.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)