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Uzbekistan's non-election
Political theatre doesn't get any more absurd than the 23 December presidential election in Uzbekistan, where the front-runner incumbent, Islam Karimov, is supported by opposing candidates even though he is neither in office now nor allowed to run for another term. There have been a few good online articles about it over the last couple days, though of course, the country's information black hole will prevent Uzbeks from reading them. But never mind: they already know how ridiculous it all is.Some major international news organisations such as the Associated Press will not be covering the election from the ground, because the regime denied them accreditation. The complete lack of free media inside the country doesn't help much either. Still, there have been a few worthwhile pieces published if you dig around. Reporting from Tashkent, Tony Halpin has an article in the Times with a title that says it all: "Torture, an iron fist and twisted logic set stage for Islam Karimov's landslide victory". Posted by: ryuge 2007-12-21 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=214625 |