Uzbek leader Karimov re-elected

TASHKENT - Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan's only president since independence from Soviet rule, swept to victory with 88.1 percent of the vote in a weekend election criticised as undemocratic by Western observers.

Karimov, who has tolerated no dissent since he came to power in 1989, has been under fire from the West since 2005 when troops fired on protesters in the town of Andizhan killing hundreds of people, according to witnesses.

The three little-known candidates who stood against Karimov -- a line-up analysts said was designed to lend the election an appearance of fairness -- won about three percent of the vote each, the Central Election Commission said.

Central Asia's most populous nation is at the heart of a geopolitical power struggle between the West and Russia which still sees former Soviet Central Asia as its sphere of interest.

The election monitoring watchdog of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the Sunday vote fell below democratic standards.

"(It) was held in a strictly controlled political environment, leaving no room for real opposition, and the election generally failed to meet many OSCE commitments for democratic elections," it said in a statement.

The West has criticised Karimov for his intolerance to political opposition and isolationist policies, but the 69-year-old leader has promised to push for more reforms and encourage foreign investment.

The OSCE said Karimov's registration as a candidate "raised legal issues" because there was a constitutional ban on more than two consecutive terms in office.

Uzbek officials have not clarified this, but a 2002 referendum effectively changed the constitutional framework for the presidency by extending Karimov's term to seven years from five, technically making this his first term in office.

Uzbekistan has never held an election judged fair by Western monitors. Karimov won the previous election in 2000 with 92 percent of the ballot.

CALL FOR WESTERN PRESSURE

A handful of opposition politicians and human rights defenders operating in Central Asia's most populous state have cried foul, saying the election offered people no real choice.

"Under no circumstances one should accept this election as legitimate," said Nigara Khidoyatova, head of the unregistered opposition Ozod Dekhkonlar party. "I would like to see more pressure from the West."

The OSCE, which sent a limited mission of just over 20 people to Tashkent, said it had registered a host of violations during the voting, including duplicated signatures on voters' lists suggesting illegal proxy voting, and other irregularities.

"Since all candidates in the present election publicly endorsed the incumbent, the electorate was deprived of a genuine choice", it said, adding that "the unusually high" turnout of 90.6 percent "raised further concerns regarding the accuracy of the reporting of results".

Central Election Commission head Mirzoulugbek Abdusalomov defended the election, saying the high turnout represented a step towards democracy.

"Preliminary results showed that the election was conducted in accordance with the constitution," he said. "We received no complaints about any violations during the vote."

In Andizhan, witnesses said hundreds of people were killed when troops opened fire on a demonstration in 2005. Karimov's government blamed the violence on Islamist rebels and put the number of dead at 187, saying most were terrorists or security forces.