Excerpts from report by the Uzbek newspaper 'Hurriyat'

[Article headline] Can [Chairman of the Support Centre for
Independent Candidates] Akmal Saidov be nominated for a
parliamentary seat? By T. Akbarov

During a lively part of a regular meeting on Monday [11th
October] of the [Uzbek] Central Electoral Commission (CEC)'s
leadership and journalists, one of our opposite number said to
Mr [CEC chairman] N. [Najmiddin] Komilov: Akmal Saidov has been
nominated by initiative groups as their independent candidate
for a seat in the Supreme Assembly. Is this allowed by the
law?"

Speaking superficially, the question sounds pertinent:
Saidov was elected to chair the recently established Support
Centre for Independent Candidates and, therefore, it seems
illogical that he has been carried away by his initiative
instead of being a help to them in the elections. What is more,
at the meeting, Saidov was seated next to the CEC chairman and
the question could have put him out. But no, he seemed
undisturbed and kept a smiling face. The chairman replied to
the question as follows: Saidov's candidacy will be registered
with the Central Electoral Commission without fail, since the
Support Centre for Independent Candidates was set up by public
will and its staff will also work on this basis. Moreover, the
chairman said, there are some heads of electoral commissions of
constituencies contesting seats in the Supreme Assembly whom we
can also register as candidates, but they have first to leave
their post as head of constituency electoral commission...
[ellipsis as given] This means that as senior electoral
commission officials are entitled to put forward their
nomination, then it is natural for the chairman of the Support
Centre for Independent Candidates to exercise this right. There
are no legal restrictions on this.

Given that Mr Saidov is a known legal expert, the author
of a series of law-related works and, importantly, the chairman
of the republic's National Human Rights Centre, perhaps there
would be no need for the question to be asked. Simple logic:
could a legal expert act against the law?

[passage omitted: it is up to the voters to elect Saidov
or not; various questions were put to the CEC leadership; the
above question was a reasonable one to ask; the briefing also
dealt with the commission's performance in registering
candidates]

Many think any individual can file their candidacy for a
parliamentary seat and even win one in the elections. This
presumption is sure to have been formed under the influence of
the way the previous elections were conducted. This time,
parliamentary candidates will be chosen by ordinary citizens
rather than by those in senior positions of power; time will
show who will win the elections: a milkmaid, a farming team
chief, a businessman, or a governor. In addition to this, any
citizen with a previous conviction for murder (even if he was
released from prison and has money to burn!) has no chance of
putting forward his nomination, let alone of being elected to
parliament. This also applies to the staff of the Armed Forces,
the National Security Service, the Internal Affairs Ministry
and other militarized departments, and to professional
personnel at religious organizations and associations. Should
they be elected to parliament, government members, court
judges, the prosecutor-general, senior officials at the
prosecutors' offices, ministers and heads of departments and
their deputies must tender their resignation. Unless they
submit their resignation, they will not be registered as
candidates.

[passage omitted: the topics at the briefing included the
electoral body's adherence to the election law]
By the way, copies of the second issue of the Central
Electoral Commission's bulletin were given out at the end of
the conference. The bulletin also carries the Uzbek Central
Electoral Commission's instructions to Uzbek presidential and
Supreme Assembly candidates, and political parties and action
groups, for the exercise of equal rights to media access. Let
us end our arcticle with some quotes from these instructions:
"All publications, irrespective of the type of ownership,
are obliged to publish the same, equal volumes of information,
on the territory of Uzbekistan, on each presidential and
Supreme Assembly candidate in their election campaign."
"The media have to create equal conditions for all
candidates in their campaign programmes and media appearances
(equal allocation of air time and in the length of TV and radio
programmes, and equal volumes and in the same page in
publications)."

"The Central Electoral Commission allows media coverage of
the activity of political parties and action groups of voters
before the start of the election campaign, but bans appeals,
appearances and other actions by party leaders or
representatives calling on the electorate to support one party
and vote for their members, in them." [p1]

Source: 'Hurriyat', Tashkent, in Uzbek 13 Oct 99 p1
BBC Mon CAU 171099/** JF/SA