Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb.23
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
The Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan (CEC) has registered the observer missions from CIS and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for the country's presidential election, the republican press center on coverage of the election told Trend on Feb.23.
CEC has invited a large number of observers from various countries, as well as observer missions from the international organizations for the presidential election in Uzbekistan, said the press center's representative.
A core group of members of the OSCE/ODIHR observer mission has already arrived in Uzbekistan. It will include over 20 representatives of European countries.
It should be noted that OSCE/ODIHR observed the parliamentary election in Uzbekistan in 2014.
The presidential election in Uzbekistan is scheduled for March 29, 2015.
The presidential candidates are: incumbent President Islam Karimov from the Liberal Democratic Party, the member of the parliamentary faction, chairman of the committee for democratic institutions, NGOs and citizens' self-government bodies, Akmal Saidov - from the National Democratic Party Milly Tiklanish; the chairman of the Central Council of the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDPU) Hotamzhon Ketmonov - from the PDPU, the chairman of the executive committee of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Adolat, Narimon Umarov - from SDP.
Presidential candidates in Uzbekistan started the pre-election campaign on Feb. 17. Under the decision of the CEC, all the candidates, during the pre-election campaigning, are given and provided with equal rights for the use of the media.
In particular, the TV and radio channels of Uzbekistan's National Television and Radio Company provides the nominees with 900 minutes of free airtime, and it is planned to air video and radio materials about the candidates, and their election programs.
Moreover, the country's newspapers such as Halk Suzi, The Truth of the Orient also provide up to 10 free pages for agitation of each presidential candidate.