The European Union has taken note of the preliminary findings of the report published by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The EU Presidency expressed its regret that these elections fell significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, notwithstanding some minor improvement since the 1999 elections.

Malta is a founding state of the OSCE, which came into being in 1993. Indeed, Malta first participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), the so-called Helsinki Process, which began in the early Seventies.

Subsequently it participated in the international conference that transformed the CSCE into an OSCE, which today boasts of 55 members in Europe, Central Asia and North America.

The OSCE's ODIHR deployed a Limited Election Observation Mission for the parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan, which were held last Sunday. Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, head of the OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission declared after the election:

"Regrettably, the implementation of the election legislation by the authorities failed to ensure a pluralistic, competitive and transparent election."

Mr Kopaj identified some improvements since the 1999 legislative elections, such as a 30 per cent quota for female party candidates and new financial regulations to support the political parties. Also, positive voting for candidates on the ballot paper was introduced, although at a very late stage.

However, Mr Kopaj insisted that "...major improvements to the (electoral) process are required, and a commensurate level of political will to implement them. Fundamental principles for a meaningful democratic election process, such as freedom of expression, association and assembly, must be respected in future elections."

Although candidates from five registered political parties and 55 candidates from initiative groups participated in the elections, the similarity of the political platforms of the registered political parties appeared to deprive voters of a genuine choice.

Three aspirant political parties were refused registration in the past 12 months by the authorities, and almost two-thirds of nominated candidates from initiative groups were not able to participate in the elections.

The OSCE/ODIHR requested from the Ministry of Justice all registration-related documentation, but the ministry declined to supply it to the Mission. The OSCE/ ODIHR was therefore unable to contradict allegations from those non-registered subjects that the authorities treated them unfairly.

The Mission, established on December 1, comprised 21 international election experts from 14 OSCE participating states. The decision to deploy a limited EOM was based on the report of the OSCE/ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission, which identified, in particular, a need for major improvement in the legal framework and marginalised opportunities for genuine political competition.

Due to these shortcomings, systematic short-term observation at polling station level was deemed to be irrelevant in this context.

The OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission, based in Tashkent, focused on the legal framework for elections, election administration, the campaign, and the role of the media.

It met national and regional representatives and candidates of political parties as well as initiative groups, government officials, electoral authorities, representatives of the media, non-governmental organisations and representatives of the international community. Long-term observer teams were deployed to Nukos, Bukara, Karshi, Samarkand and Fergana.

The OSCE/ODIHR will elaborate its findings in a final report, including recommendations, to be published approximately a month after the completion of the election process.

The Presidency of the European Union noted with concern that only government-approved parties were registered for last Sunday's Legislative Chamber elections and that, over the past 12 months, three aspiring political parties were not permitted to register.

The EU also showed concern that the participation of individual independent candidates was severely curtailed. Furthermore, implementation of the election legislation and changing voting procedures at a late stage resulted in a less transparent election. This severely reduced the scope for meaningful political competition.

The EU expects Uzbekistan, as an OSCE participating state, to abide by its commitments. The Presidency appreciates the co-operation of the Uzbek authorities with OSCE/ ODIHR in the run-up to and during the elections and is hopeful that this co-operation will continue to develop.

It reiterates the EU's readiness to work with Uzbekistan to promote and implement OSCE values and principles on a basis of mutual trust.

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