Excerpts from report by the Uzbek newspaper 'Pravda Vostoka'

[Newspaper headline] "The election of the president of the Republic of
Uzbekistan was conducted in line with international norms," Professor
Vitaliy Naumkin [from Russia] told the Turkiston Press non-state news
agency correspondent in an interview
[Subhead] An important political event that will decide the future of the
country - a presidential poll - took place in Uzbekistan on 9th January.
There were two candidates standing for the post of head of state -
[President] Islam Karimov as nominated from the Fidokorlar
[Self-Sacrificers National Democratic] Party and First Secretary of the
People's Democratic Party of Uzbeksitan Abdulkhafiz Jalolov.
[passage omitted: voter turnout was high; Karimov won 91.9 per cent of the
vote against 4.17 by Jalolov; 121 international observers oversaw the
polls]

"And I happened to observe two stages. The first one was our trip to
Ohangaron District in Tashkent Region on our own initiative. We were
pleasantly surprised to be granted the freedom to go wherever we liked. In
a word, we descended on the District and inspected three polling stations,
including a rural one. We were interested in learning how the District had
been preparing for the upcoming presidential polls. We liked the way things
had been arranged in the polling stations - everything was in good order,
with people at work, albeit a major holiday on Saturday - the Ramadan
holiday. We visited several polling stations in Tashkent's Mizo Ulughbek
district, starting early in the morning of 9th January. Our first vivid
impression was to see voters turn up in large numbers. Some of them came to
polling stations before six o'clock in the morning and waited for the
stations to open. What is more, they included not only the elderly but also
the young. Having talked to voters, we realized that people were taking a
responsible attitude towards voting and were well aware that the future
and destiny of the state depend on their will. Voters were coming in high
spirits and a festive atmosphere reigned at all polling stations.

"By 1100 hours in the morning, about half the electorate had already
cast their votes. We did not notice any irregularities, everything was
being conducted in keeping with international legislation. From our point
of view, it is a big step towards democracy. We would like to congratulate
Uzbekistan for conducting the elections of the head of state well and in an
organized way."

Our second interviewee is Prof Irina Zvyagelskaya, vice-president of the
centre for strategical and political studies (in Moscow):
"We made our trip to the same polling stations together, and I can say my
view is not particularly different from my colleague's," Irina Zvyagelskaya
said.

[passage omitted: Zvyagelskaya said was "greatly" impressed by the
elections; arrangements for the Uzbek presidential polls were better than
those for the Russian parliamentary polls; Uzbek elderly and young were
equally active in the elections; she praised the support of local wards in
conducting the polls]

"From my point of view, it is an excellent start. And whatever was said,
democracy sprouts only from within, only from a society itself and its
sprouts need to be discovered and nursed."

"Igor Solovyev," our next interviewee from Latvia introduced himself. I am a
member of parliament, of a commission for foreign affairs and a commission
for Europe and I am also Latvia's representative in NATO.

"I have had to deal with elections a number of times in my life. In the
post-Soviet period I headed polling station, district and municipal
electoral commissions several times. So, I have a great deal of experience.
And let me put it like this - technically, everything here was properly and
competently arranged. I very much liked that there was a document among
many others we were offered as observers that specified how the polls had
to be conducted and how polling stations had to be prepared, what they
should have and in a word, all the technologies. It is very rare,
especially as it is fixed in the Uzbek election law. It is not the case in
many countries. Second, the polls were conducted on an alternative and
democratic basis. I consider this a great success for Uzbekistan."
[passage omitted to end: Solovyev said people would favour Karimov; praised
Karimov] p2

Source: 'Pravda Vostoka', Tashkent, in Russian 11 Jan 00 p*
BBC Mon CAU 180100/** GAR/SA