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UZBEKISTAN
Qonunchilik palatasi (Legislative Chamber)
ELECTIONS IN 2004

Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module

A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page

Parliament name (generic / translated) Oliy Majlis / Supreme Assembly
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Qonunchilik palatasi / Legislative Chamber
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Senat / Senate
BACKGROUND
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) (from/to)26 December 2004
9 January 2005
Purpose of elections Elections were held for seats in the Legislative Chamber for the first time since the decision in January 2002 to establish a bicameral parliament.
The first parliamentary election under the bicameral system introduced in 2002 was held in Uzbekistan on 26 December 2004. In this landlocked country of 26 million people some 500 candidates from five political parties competed for 120 seats in the lower house of parliament the Legislative Chamber (Oliy Majlis) which replaces the previous 250-member Supreme Council. The upper house consists of 100 senators 16 of whom are appointed by the President while the rest are chosen by regional councils.

Although the new parliamentary system is intended to increase the role of
political parties in the decision-making process many analysts believe that those parties that have been able to take part in elections largely remain under governmental control. Following amendments to the requirements set out in the Law "On Elections to Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan" in August 2003 only registered political parties and voters' initiative groups have the right to field candidates for election. Election officials refused to register three major political parties - Freedom Unity and Free Peasants - that would probably have formed a parliamentary opposition. They were thus unable to take part in the election which led them to call for a boycott. Consequently all five parties represented in the election - The People's Democratic Party Self-Sacrificers Party Justice Party National Renaissance and Liberal-Democratic Party - are supportive of the policies of President Karimov who has been in power since Uzbekistan's independence in 1991.

At this election held during the Christmas vacation a relatively small number of international observers monitored polling stations: 70 from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and 21 from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The latter identified some improvements since the 1999 elections such as a 30 percent quota for female candidates and new financial regulations concerning political parties. However it criticized the lack of sufficient conditions for a democratic vote. The head of the OSCE/ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) Limited Election Observation Mission insisted that "fundamental principles for a meaningful democratic election process such as freedom of expression association and assembly must be respected in future elections". The EU Presidency also regretted that the elections fell significantly short of commitments of the OSCE participating States to hold genuinely democratic elections in the broader context of respect for human rights and other international standards for democratic elections.

According to the Central Elections Commission (CEC) 85.1 percent of 14.33 million eligible voters or 12.97 million people cast their ballot without any irregularities although reports from the capital Tashkent said the turnout appeared to be lower than official figures. Official turnout was much higher than the 33 percent required to validate the vote. The CEC indicated that in many constituencies candidates did not gain the minimum 50 percent of votes needed to win the seat. Consequently a second round was organized on 9 January 2005 for the two leading candidates in 58 constituencies.

Final results gave the Liberal and Democratic Party a total of 41 seats followed by the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan with 28 deputies. Fidorkorlar received 18 while Citizens' groups nominees had 12. Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Milliy tiklanish) got 11. The remaining 10 seats went to Adolat.
STATISTICS
Voter turnout
Round no 126 December 2004
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes
14'332'736
12'197'159 (85.1%)

Notes Only 62 candidates gained the minimum 50 percent of votes needed to win the seat.
Round no 29 January 2005
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes
5'400'000
80%

Notes Only 62 candidates gained the minimum 50 percent of votes needed to win the seat.
Distribution of votes
Round no 1
Political Group Candidates Votes %
Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal-Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 114
National Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 108
Fidorkorlar 84
Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Milliy tiklanish) 58
Citizens' groups nominees 54
Adolat 71
Round no 2
Political Group Candidates Votes %
Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal-Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 34.20
National Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 23.30
Fidorkorlar
Adolat
Citizens' groups nominees
Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Milliy tiklanish)
Distribution of seats
Round no 1
Political Group Total
Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal-Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 21
National Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 18
Fidorkorlar 9
Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Milliy tiklanish) 6
Citizens' groups nominees 6
Adolat 2
Round no 2
Political Group Total
Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal-Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 20
National Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 10
Fidorkorlar 9
Adolat 8
Citizens' groups nominees 6
Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Milliy tiklanish) 5
Distribution of seats according to sex
Men
Women
Percent of women
99
21
17.50%
Distribution of seats according to age
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
4
24
63
27
2
Distribution of seats according to profession
Comments
Sources:
- Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan (http://www.elections.uz/)
- Oliy Majlis Legislative Chamber (11.03.2005)

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