Conventional wisdom suggests Americans know little about foreign policy and care about it even less. Opinion polls regularly show that international issues take a back seat to topics more prosaic (economics, education) or provocative (culture wars, gun control).

Next year’s presidential election, however, might be a bit different. Continued international crises could focus attention on the benefits and burdens of American global leadership, and our polarized politics may turn on battles and events far from home. We might experience the rare phenomenon: a foreign policy election.

Israel’s war against Hamas has become a domestic political focal point, either praised as a righteous campaign of self-defense or criticized for bringing humanitarian catastrophe to Gaza. Some experts now believe Ukraine’s war aims are “out of reach,” and call on Washington to encourage Ukraine to pursue a cease-fire.

One might think a president with Joe Biden’s experience would perform well in a foreign policy election. So it’s surprising that his approach to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine — an approach he doubled down on in a recent op-ed that touted the U.S. as “the essential nation,” worried about Russian leader Vladimir “Putin’s drive for conquest” and reduced Hamas’ motives to “murderous nihilism” — instead appears to be endangering his reelection.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and the president’s nearly unconditional support for Israel’s response have brought to a boil the simmering divisions within the Democratic Party on the issue of Palestinians. Many young, diverse and progressive voters are critical of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and the “open-air prison” of Gaza. They believe the Gaza war is unjust and disproportionate.

Fully 70% of U.S. voters under age 35 disapprove of Biden’s handling of the war, according to a Nov. 19 NBC News poll. Other polls show that a majority of young voters do not support sending weapons to Israel, and less than half of Gen Z and millennials even want the U.S. to publicly voice support for Israel as the president has so consistently done. The issue could tip the scale in the crucial swing states, such as Michigan, where razor-thin margins of victory are common.

Support for Israel has been uncontroversial for most of Biden’s political career. A decade ago, a pro-Israel lobbyist described his work to me as “pushing against an open door.” But as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved to the right and threatened Israel’s democratic institutions, he has infuriated many Israelis and tested the patience of otherwise sympathetic Americans — including many American Jews. Today, Washington’s pro-Israel lobby is dominated by evangelical Christians in the Republican Party base, borne by what one commentator called “solidarity with a particularly aggressive strain of Zionism.”

Democrats have sweated the electoral consequences of being seen as insufficiently pro-Israel since before it was even a country. In 1947, as the United Nations considered recognizing a Jewish state, President Truman’s general counsel, Clark Clifford, penned a private memo to his boss: “Unless the Palestine matter is boldly and favorably handled, there is bound to be some defection on [Jewish voters’] part to the alert [GOP nominee Thomas E.] Dewey.” Unlike Truman, Biden has to contend with a voting Middle Eastern diaspora, new human rights norms and mass media capable of relaying round-the-clock images of Palestinian suffering.

Apart from the Israel-Hamas war, a foreign policy election would present Biden with other fresh challenges. In broad terms, independent voters don’t seem to share Democrats’ — and the president’s — expansive view of the purpose of American power.

A survey released in October by the Institute for Global Affairs at the Eurasia Group found that Republicans and independents, when asked what the primary goal of U.S. foreign policy should be, chose “to protect America from foreign threats and stop other countries from taking advantage of the U.S.” Democrats, on the other hand, chose “to promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the globe as the leader of the free world.”

When House Republicans recently cut Ukraine funding from a plan to keep the government running, they elicited howls from some Democrats about “abandoning” Ukraine. But independents aren’t howling. The survey shows that many share Republicans’ skepticism of alliances, concern over diminishing weapons stockpiles and desire to withdraw U.S. troops stationed in Europe.

In other words, independents echo the rhetoric of Donald Trump more than that of Joe Biden. The president has lately dialed down his trumpeting of a worldwide “battle between democracy and autocracy.” Perhaps his campaign realized this resonated with those inclined to vote for him anyway, and could fail to win over swing voters.

Historically, a foreign policy election benefits the incumbent. During the Cold War, politics were said to stop at the water’s edge, as Americans sought to show the world a united front. International crises often generated a “rally ’round the flag” effect for leaders seen as taking decisive action.

However, voters today don’t agree on the dangers the U.S. faces, let alone the best way to address them. Republicans’ greatest perceived threat — immigration threatens the country’s national identity — ranked last among Democrats on our survey. Climate -change-induced natural disasters were seen as the top threat among Democrats, but the second-to-last among Republicans.

Political leaders can usually be forgiven for not heeding the public’s foreign policy preferences. Voters can be capricious or ill-informed, and expertise is crucial for foreign policy decision-making. But if foreign crises continue to focus Americans’ attention next year, Biden ignores their views at his peril.

Source : Los Angeles Times

The post Opinion: Does Biden Benefit if Foreign Policy Dominates the 2024 Campaign? appeared first on Policy Print.

The pro-democracy camp’s success on Sunday was expected from opinion polling, but the depth of its victory was breathtaking. The urban-based, progressive Move Forward party was projected to come out on top with around 151 seats, followed by Pheu Thai, the latest iteration of the populist political machine of an ousted prime minister now in exile, Thaksin Shinawatra, with around 141 seats.

Mr. Thaksin’s parties have won every free Thai election for about the past two decades, but the military has repeatedly either kept the party from power through the courts or ousted it in coups. Pheu Thai is now led by Mr. Thaksin’s daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 36, who had been leading in many pre-election polls.

Move Forward is led by Pita Limjaroenrat, a 42-year-old Harvard Kennedy School alumnus and a business executive. The late surge of support for Move Forward appears to have come from millions of first-time voters who might have also been tired of the dynastic politics represented by Pheu Thai, meaning that voters opted for a major political realignment.

Smaller opposition parties also scored well, and all the pro-democracy parties seem willing to work together to form what should be an overwhelming bloc for change.

The biggest loser appears to be current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the 2014 coup and retired from the military to be an ostensible civilian government leader. His United Thai Nation Party is poised to come in fifth place in the constituency vote, with only around 36 parliamentary seats. Mr. Prayuth, who polls show is widely unpopular after nine years in power, had campaigned on a promise of continuity — something Thai voters clearly rejected. Mr. Prayuth’s party came in behind even a rival military party led by his erstwhile deputy, Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also a retired general.

The two main opposition parties were both considered unpalatable to the military. The generals disliked and feared Pheu Thai for its populist brand of politics that particularly appeals to poor Thais in the country’s northeast. Both Mr. Thaksin and later his sister were deposed. But Move Forward represents an even bigger threat to the military and the conservative elements in Thai society, for example by pledging to end military conscription and modify the country’s strict “lèse-majesté” law that makes it illegal to criticize the king.

That so many Thais, particularly young people, were willing to vote for a party that openly advocated a change to the law protecting the once-revered monarchy is itself a sign of the dramatic change underway in Thailand. The question now is whether the conservative forces, including the military and the monarchy, will respect the people’s wishes. Mr. Pita on Sunday said his party had no intention of backing down on its campaign pledges.

It’s not a given in Thailand that the soldiers will stand down, despite their resounding repudiation at the polls. Under the constitution they designed to guarantee a dominant military role in politics, the next prime minister will be chosen not just by the 500-member House of Representatives. A 250-member Senate, appointed entirely be the ruling junta, also has a vote for prime minister, meaning the military can still suppress this popular surge.

So while many Thais are elated, some caution — and vigilance among leaders in the United States and other democracies — is still needed. One need to look at Thailand’s neighbor, Myanmar, where the popular party of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi scored a landslide victory in elections in November 2020, only to see the military take power three months later and annul the result. Myanmar has been gripped by civil war ever since.

The tragedy there should be a cautionary note to any generals in Thailand thinking of defying their country’s legitimate election results. As the Thai political system wrangles over Sunday’s results, the Biden administration and other foreign observers should make this point clearly and often.

The post Thai Vote Shows Deep Desire for Change — If the Generals Will Allow It appeared first on Policy Print.

Government spokesperson Mr. Anucha Buraphachaisri announced that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was highly impressed with the performance of Thai dancers donning the traditional attire earlier this month at the World Dance Day in Jakarta. The dancers not only received a roaring applause from the audience but many foreigners also asked to click photos with them.

According to Mr. Anucha, Gen Prayut believes that the “Pha khao ma” can be a successful source of soft power to promote Thailand and its rich culture globally.

The first performance showed how Thai villagers wear the “Pha khao ma” in their daily lives while the second featured dancers wearing traditional clothing from across Thailand.

“The Prime Minister has asked for cooperation from relevant agencies to jointly extend and push Pha Khao Ma, to be recognized worldwide,” said Anucha.

“The Prime Minister also appreciated the youth for supporting Thai traditional culture to be well-known outside the country. He is also ready to support the loincloth to be registered as an item of intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO,” he added.

The spokesperson informed that the Thai cabinet had already considered registering “Pha khao ma” to be listed as one of the intangible cultural heritage items with UNESCO back in February this year, and the outgoing Prime Minister has been rallying his support for a worldwide recognition since then.

The post Thai PM Seeks Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage Listing for Pha Khao Ma appeared first on Policy Print.

In a country where the average age of cabinet ministers is 65, where unquestioning deference to elders is still a cherished tradition, his youth – he looks far younger than his 42 years – and unabashed confidence make him stand out.

That he is, after a shock election result which put his reformist Move Forward party ahead of all the others, poised to become the youngest prime minister in 78 years, has stunned the conservative political establishment which has dominated Thailand for much of the modern era.

Difficult negotiations are now under way to form a coalition government with Pheu Thai, the second largest party, which has won every election held in Thailand since 2001, and had been expected to win the latest, held on 14 May.

Both Pheu Thai and Move Forward consider themselves to be progressive, opposed to military interference in politics like the 2014 coup, which deposed a Pheu Thai administration.

But the young activists of Move Forward outmanoeuvred the older party, and beat many of its candidates, with an imaginative, social media-based campaign offering voters a complete break with the past, and a different kind of political leadership.

“I’m different,” Pita tells me. “We are not getting into a coalition to pursue a quick fix, or to get me the prime ministership. I’m in government for the people. The world has changed.

“You don’t have to be a strong man, with toxic masculinity, to make sure ‘people have to listen to me, and I have to be the one in the spotlight all the time’.

“I don’t have to be perfect all the time. I can just be like a regular human being here in Thailand, riding motorcycles, eating on the streets like any other people.”

Pita Limjaroenrat was born into a wealthy Thai family.

He cites being sent to school as a teenager in New Zealand, the time he lived in the United States doing postgraduate study, and his experience working in the family rice-bran business, and then as an executive with the ride-hailing company Grab, as formative influences.

He admires down-to-earth leaders like New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern and Uruguay’s José “Pepe” Mujica.

Move Forward has the most ambitious reform agenda of any party in Thailand’s electoral history.

Among the 300 policies in its manifesto are equal marriage for LGBTQ Thais, ending military conscription, tackling business monopolies, and overhauling the education system to make it fit for a 21st Century economy.

The party plans to scrap the military-drafted constitution, and bring the army’s many business interests under the Ministry of Finance.

“It is time to end the cycle of military coups, and time to end the corruption in politics which opens the door to coups,” Pita says.

But the party’s most controversial proposal is to amend the lèse majesté law, which imposes long jail sentences on those convicted of insulting the royal family, and to begin a conversation about the relationship between the monarchy and the Thai people.

Many of the 250 senators, who were appointed by the previous military government, and who are required to join the parliamentary vote for the next prime minister, say they will block Move Forward from taking office over this issue.

“The sentiment of the era has changed,” says Pita.

“I think we now have the maturity and tolerance to speak about the monarchy. Even conservatives understand what the role of a constitutional monarchy should be in the 21st Century.

“We won the votes of 14 million people. And they understood – it was clear, it was transparent – that this was one of the agendas we wanted to push.”

The Move Forward leader believes that his coalition, which currently holds 312 out of the 500 seats in the lower house of parliament, will get the necessary backing of 64 senators to give them the super-majority they need.

Sources inside the senate, though, say this will be difficult to achieve so long as Move Forward remains committed to amending the lèse majesté law; but that at least some of the senators, who only have a year left of their unelected terms, do feel uneasy about opposing a coalition which won a clear majority in the election.

Pita Limjaroenrat is promising a new foreign policy as well.

Under the military-backed governments of the past decade Thailand is widely viewed as having punched below its weight in international affairs, with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha taking little interest in foreign policy.

“Definitely we need to engage the international community more,” Pita says.

“We have to rebalance. We have to speak out more, and we have to side with the rules-based world order. No words, no weight in foreign policy.

“And a lot of our problems, whether its economic, it’s air pollution, it’s the price of fertiliser, come from the rest of the world.”

His government, he says, would work more closely with Thailand’s Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbours to seek a solution to the civil war in Myanmar, and he would try to channel more humanitarian aid across the Thai-Myanmar border.

The challenges still confronting this young prime minister-in-waiting are daunting.

There is the sceptical senate, and the need to hammer out a deal with Pheu Thai, which won only ten seats fewer than Move Forward and has more experienced negotiators in its team.

Pheu Thai has been demanding top ministries, and the powerful parliamentary speaker position, which Pita views as a priority to get his many new bills tabled.

His party is made up mainly of first-time MPs, some too young to pass the 35 years age threshold to be a minister, some still facing serious criminal charges from their past political activism.

Ideologically more flexible, and taking a hands-off approach to the monarchy, Pheu Thai has the option of joining an alternative coalition which includes parties in the outgoing administration.

Move Forward has ruled out such a compromise, having won many of its votes through its promise not to do deals with the generals.

Pita Limjaroenrat believes neither party can abandon what he is calling a coalition of dreams and hope, because of the damage it would do to their reputations.

He wears the weight of these responsibilities lightly, still making time to spend with his family, and breezily optimistic that things will work out.

“I don’t want to be like those other Thai politicians still fighting for positions well into their 70s and 80s,” he tells me.

“I want to keep doing this for maybe another ten years, and then it will be time for something else.”

The post Pita Limjaroenrat: Thai Election Upstart Who Vows To Be Different appeared first on Policy Print.

Professor at Tashkent State University of Law,

Doctor of Juridical Science

Seven years ago, Uzbekistan embarked on a new stage of development. During this period, a large number of cardinal reforms have been carried out in all spheres of the socio-political and economic life of the society.

Meanwhile, the most important areas included democratic reforms aimed at ensuring a wide range of human rights and freedoms, liberalisation of public and political life, and freedom of the media, as reflected in the new version of the Constitution. These reforms have also enabled the national electoral legislation to be updated, which facilitates the holding of elections at a new level.

As is well known, the main stages of the electoral process are regulated by legal acts: appointment of elections, formation of the organizational and technical basis, nomination and registration of candidates, campaigning, voting, determination of the results and their legitimation.

The Right to Nominate a Candidate: How It Is Exercised

According to Article 37 of the Election Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, political parties shall have the right to nominate a presidential candidate. 

In accordance with Article 62, a political party has the right to nominate candidates upon registration by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan no later than four months before the date of the announcement of the election campaign.

At present, there are five active political parties officially registered in Uzbekistan: the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, the Adolat Social Democratic Party, the Milliy Tiklanish Democratic Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan. 

The Election Code specifies the list of documents that political parties must submit in order to run for the Presidency of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Hence, a political party must submit the following documents to the Central Election Commission in order to stand for election pursuant to Article 63:

• an application for participation in the election signed by the leader of the party;
• a certificate from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan containing information on the registration of the political party;
• information on a potential candidate for the post of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

On the basis of the submitted documents, the CEC makes a final decision on the party’s admission to the elections within five days and issues a certificate of registration and standard forms of the signature lists to the authorized representative of the political party. The list of parties participating in the elections is published in the central press in the order of receipt of applications.

The nomination of candidates for the presidency of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be made by the supreme bodies of political parties.

A political party shall be entitled to nominate a presidential candidate only from among its members or from a non-party person. A protocol shall be drawn up for the nomination of a candidate for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The leader of a political party submits an application for registration of a presidential candidate to the Central Election Commission, together with the relevant documents (Article 64 of the Election Code).

The CEC provides political parties with standard forms of signature lists for presidential elections.

Registration of Signature Lists

According to Article 34 of the Election Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a political party that nominates a presidential candidate, shall have the right to appoint an authorized representative to participate in the meetings of election commission, submit documents, check the accuracy of signature lists, and count votes.

Standard forms of signature lists shall be issued by the CEC after the announcement of the start of election campaign. According to Article 38 of the Code, voters shall have the right to put signature on a signature lists in support of one or more political parties.

The CEC’s placement of political party logos on the signature sheets serves to better inform voters about political parties. This helps to ensure that voters have an accurate idea of which party they are supporting and which political party collected the signatures.

The collection of signatures of voters shall be carried out at the place of work, service, study, residence, at election events, as well as in other places where campaigning and collecting signatures are not prohibited by law. Any form of coercion and bribery of voters by the person collecting signatures shall entail liability established by law.

A signature list shall be signed by the person who collected signatures, indicating his surname, first name, and patronymic, and certified by the head of the district or city structure of the respective political party and the seal.

Voters may sign in support of one or more political parties or candidates. These data shall be entered in handwritten form.

The accuracy of signature lists submitted by political parties shall be checked by the CEC within five days. At least 15 % of the required number of voter signatures and relevant information about the voters who have put signatures on the signature sheets are subject to verification.

The CEC may establish an expert group to verify the correctness of signature lists. It is composed of experts of internal affairs bodies, justice, and representatives of civil society institutions. They check that the forms have been filled in correctly, that corrections have been made, who filled them in and whether there are identical signatures. Authorized representatives of political parties shall also take part in the verification process.

If a visual inspection reveals a violation of the law, these signature sheets are returned to the authorized representative of the political party, and they are given two days to fill in the gaps.

Based on the results of the inspection, the expert group draws up a conclusion for each political party. This is the basis for the CEC’s decision to grant or deny a political party the right to participate in elections.

In general, the process of filling in the signature sheets by the political parties is important to increase the social activity of the electoral corps.

The post Uzbekistan’s Presidential Elections: an Important Stage in the Election Campaign appeared first on Policy Print.

The permanent member of the Central Election Commission

The participation of international organizations and foreign observers in elections is essential for the open and transparent conduct of democratic elections. At the same time, international election observation helps ensure the implementation of citizens’ electoral rights, promotes bilateral exchange of knowledge and information on the practice of the electoral process, and serves as a basis for building strong international relations.

By developing its electoral system, Uzbekistan ensures and protects the constitutional electoral rights and freedoms of its citizens and voters while being open to international observation, not only in national elections but also in referendums. In this way, our country implements the universally recognized principles and norms of international law in the field of democratic elections and ensures and protects the electoral rights and freedoms of participants in the electoral process.

The dynamics of international election observation in Uzbekistan show that the participation of foreign (international) observers has increased in recent years.

Taking the elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan as an example, these indicators are as follows: 296 foreign observers participated in the 2015 elections, 555 in the 2016 elections, and 971 in the 2021 elections.

            So the elections in Uzbekistan are taking place against a backdrop of radical change and democratic reform, a new political environment is emerging, and the international community is paying increasing attention to these changes.

International standards and national legal framework 

for international observation

            To date, Uzbekistan, as a full-fledged subject of international relations, has joined more than 80 international human rights instruments that cover universally recognized principles and norms of international law.

Based on the implementation of international obligations of the state and international electoral standards, contained in the documents of such leading international organizations as the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, Inter-Parliamentary Union, etc., the national electoral system of Uzbekistan has been formed, the legal regulation of the conduct of elections and the organization of international monitoring of them is carried out. Among them are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, the UN Declaration on the Principles of International Surveillance for Elections, Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, Declaration on the Criteria for Free and Fair Elections, Code of Good Practice in Conducting Elections: Guidelines and Explanatory Report adopted by the Venice Commission in 2002, Declaration of the IPA CIS “On the principles of international monitoring of elections and referendums in the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States” and a number of other documents.

            To date, Uzbekistan, as a full-fledged subject of international relations, has acceded to more than 80 international human rights instruments, which include universally recognized principles and norms of international law.
On the basis of implementation of international obligations of the state and international electoral standards contained in the documents of leading international organizations such as UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, Inter-Parliamentary Union, etc., the national electoral system of Uzbekistan was created, the conduct of elections was regulated by law, and international election observation was organized. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, the UN Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, the Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, the Declaration on the Criteria for Free and Fair Elections, Code of Good Practice in Conducting Elections: Guidelines and Explanatory Report adopted by the Venice Commission in 2002, IPA CIS Declaration of Principles for International Election and Referendum Observation in the Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States and a number of other documents.

            The new edition of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan recognizes the primacy of the generally recognized norms of international law. Taking into account the international legal acts in the sphere of regulation of the institution of international observation, the activity of international (foreign) observers is regulated by the national legislation within a framework that does not contradict the international legal acts, and we have a fairly well-developed practice of inviting international observers.

            The legal regulation of the status of international observers in the elections in Uzbekistan, including the accreditation procedure, the list of rights, obligations and restrictions of international observers, is governed by the Election Code and the Regulations of the CEC on observers from foreign states and international organizations participating in the elections in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

            The Election Code specifically provides that observers from other countries and international organizations may participate in all activities related to the preparation and conduct of the elections, as well as in polling stations and in the counting of votes on election day. The regulation of the Central Election Commission shall specify in detail the procedure for the participation of observers from foreign countries and international organizations in the elections.

            Uzbekistan actively participates in the activities of international organizations and constructively cooperates in the implementation of international electoral standards. These include international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

            The Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan has also been a member of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) since 2013 and the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) since 2014, and actively cooperates on election issues with international organizations such as the OSCE/ODIHR, the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations   (IPA CIS IIMDD), the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, and UNDP.

            According to the common practice of international election observation in Uzbekistan, the invited international (foreign) observers can be conditionally divided into three groups.

            The first group is observers from international and intergovernmental organizations that conduct international monitoring of international documents, including those with varying international legal force. These include international organizations such as the OSCE ODIHR, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, the CIS, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the SCO, the OIC, the OTS, and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries.

            The second group of invited international observers are specialized bodies and organizations, including international organizations that do not have the status of an intergovernmental organization and whose main objectives of international observation of elections and referendums are specified in their statutes or regulations.

Here, we are primarily concerned with national electoral bodies (commissions), which, in accordance with national legislation on elections and referendums, are professionally involved in the organization of elections and referendums, and with other bodies whose functions include the implementation of electoral procedures (national ministries), as well as with associations and organizations professionally concerned with scientific and practical issues of national elections and referendums: The Hague Conference on International Law, the Association of World Election Bodies, the Association of Asian Election Authorities, the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD), the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, etc.

The third group of international observers consists of electoral law experts, lawyers, human rights activists and political scientists, scholars and researchers who are invited by Uzbekistan as foreign observers and observe the elections in their professional interest.

Accreditation of international observers

After announcing the start of the election campaign, the CEC, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sends invitations to the electoral bodies of foreign states and international organizations, which must submit a response to this proposal and related documents at least ten days before voting day.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall submit to the CEC a proposal with the attached documents of the observers from the foreign states and international organizations concerned. The CEC shall adopt a resolution on accreditation within five days. The list of accredited international observers is published on the official website of the CEC.

At the same time, in accordance with our legislation, accreditation is denied if the documents submitted for accreditation do not meet the requirements, if the documents are not submitted in time, if the activities of an international observer or the organizations that nominated him/her are contrary to national legislation or endanger the sovereignty, security and national interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

            The CEC shall issue a mandate to an accredited international observer, which shall be the basis for the activities of the international observers during the period of preparation and conduct of the elections.

Rights and obligations of international observers

In the electoral practice of Uzbekistan, a model of a certain legal status of international observers has emerged, in which the rights and obligations of international observers are established by the state through a legally binding act, ensuring a uniform practice of creating conditions for their activity.

Moreover, the Election Code stipulates that a foreign (international) observer shall have the same rights as an internal observer.

The international observer shall have the right to:

• attend meetings of election commissions;
• attend nomination meetings, meetings of candidates with voters;
• be present at the polling station, observe the progress of the preparatory work, the setting up of the booths or rooms for the secret ballot and the sealing of the ballot boxes, the registration of the voters, the distribution of the ballots to them;
• observe the voting process on election day;
• be informed of the place and time of early voting and observe this process;
• monitor the casting of votes at the voter’s place of residence with the voter’s consent;
• be present at the counting of votes and the preparation of the Protocol of the Election Commission;
• request and receive copies of the documents on the elections results certified by the competent Election Commission;
• conduct election observation accompanied by a personally hired interpreter;
• take photographs, video and audio recordings without violating the electoral process and the secrecy of the ballot (except in detention and prison facilities, military units and medical facilities);
• inform media representatives about the results of the observation;
• wear badges that do not contain any signs of pre-election campaigning and that indicate their surname, first name and patronymic, as well as the name of the organization they represent;
• be present at the receipt of Protocols of the District Election Commissions on the results of the vote count and at the determination of the results of the elections in the district;
• inform the competent Precinct Election Commission in accordance with the established procedure, at least three days before arriving at the polling stations established in military units, places of detention and deprivation of liberty;
• report their observations to the members of the Precinct Election Commission without interfering with their work, and inform the higher-level election commissions if there are grounds for believing that violations of the provisions of electoral legislation and international standards have been committed at the polling station in question;
• publicly express their opinion on the electoral legislation and the preparation and conduct of the elections.

These powers of international observers are consistent with international standards.

Through these numerous rights and freedoms, international observers gather information for an objective assessment of the conduct of electoral processes, examine electoral legislation and practices, and evaluate the activities of election commissions.

In order to prevent direct or indirect interference in internal political processes, which, according to all international documents, belong to the internal affairs of the state and must be protected from any illegal external interference, the law also provides for certain restrictions/prohibitions that international observers must observe when exercising their powers.

The observer shall have the following obligations:

• observe in their activities the Constitution, the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, including the rules of stay in Uzbekistan, as well as the generally recognized norms of international law on the organization and conduct of elections;
•  fulfill their obligations to conduct international election observation in accordance with the principles of impartiality and political neutrality, and refuse to express any preferences to election commissions, state bodies, officials and election participants;
•  when visiting election commissions at all levels, state bodies and administrations and other organizations, present the credentials issued by the Central Election Commission together with an identification document;
•  substantiate their findings with observation and factual materials

The observer shall be prohibited from the following:

• being in the voting booth or room when the voter makes his/her marks on the ballot paper;
• influencing voters, distributing any campaign materials or literature;
• asking voters how they voted, or providing them with any assistance in making marks on the ballot papers;
• interfering in the activities of the Precinct Referendum Commission, including when sealing ballot boxes, opening them, and counting votes.
• wear symbolic signs of any party or candidate;
• announce the results of public opinion polls, election forecasts, and other election-related research on election day and the day before voting begins.

The participation of international observers in events and processes not related to the preparation and conduct of elections requires the prior approval of the CEC.

Improving the national legal framework for holding elections

In accordance with the established practice of international election observation in Uzbekistan, the published results, conclusions, findings and recommendations based on the results of election observation do not go unnoticed and form the basis for further improvement of the national legal framework for conducting elections and its practice.

Taking the example of active cooperation with the OSCE/ODIHR, whose missions have been invited to observe elections since 1999 (parliamentary elections: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019; presidential elections: 2007, 2015, 2016, 2021, Constitutional Referendum 2023), under the coordination of the Central Election Commission and with the involvement of all stakeholders in the electoral process, experts and specialists, representatives of political parties, civil society institutions, academics and practitioners, consistent work is being done to further improve electoral legislation and practice based on the final reports of the Election Observation Missions on the results of observation of the parliamentary and presidential elections.

In recent years, Uzbekistan has gradually implemented a number of ODIHR recommendations on election observation. This is clearly demonstrated by indicators such as the adoption of the Election Code, the introduction of information and communication technologies in the electoral process, the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (New York, December 13, 2006), and a number of other innovations.

For example, the implementation of a recommendation from one of the last ODIHR EOM reports on Uzbekistan to review the limitation of the right to vote based on legal capacity in accordance with international obligations.

First of all, our country ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in July 2021.The next step was to consolidate at the constitutional level the possession of persons with disabilities of legal capacity in elections on an equal basis with others.

The new version of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan provides in Article 128 that citizens who have been declared legally incapable by the court, as well as persons who have been imprisoned on the basis of a court judgment for grave and particularly grave crimes, may be deprived of the right to participate in elections only in accordance with the law and on the basis of a court decision. In all other cases, direct or indirect restriction of citizens’ right to vote shall not be permitted.

Later, this constitutional norm was incorporated into electoral legislation. Thus, on May 6, the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was adopted, according to which the corresponding articles of the Law “On Referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan” and the Election Code were included in the new version. It is established that legally incapable persons can be deprived of the right to vote only by a court decision.

This norm will serve as a constitutional guarantee for the exclusion of circumstances in which a person could be deprived of the right to recognition of his legal personality or this right could be restricted.

Thus, the international legal framework for the activities of international observers is primarily regulated by international legal acts, the application of which is carried out within the framework of national legislation on elections and referendums. This practice is fully consistent with the international obligations of our country to participate in the elections of international organizations and observers of foreign states.

In this regard, in preparation for the early elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which will be held on July 9 this year, the Central Election Commission has sent invitations to international organizations and electoral bodies of foreign states. Participation of international observers in the forthcoming elections in Uzbekistan will serve to conduct this most important political event in the life of our people and our country openly and transparently on the basis of universally recognized democratic principles.

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