political opposition. Opponents are now in prison or exile.
There is no free media in Uzbekistan, and no
nongovernmental organizations are allowed. The apogee of
the intensifying repression came in 2005, when possibly
750, maybe more, demonstrators were murdered by the
police and army in Andijon.
Using this command of the security forces and total
control of the media, Karimov first extended his presidential
term for five years, through a referendum, and then won
reelection for a new seven-year term in 2000, with 91.2
percent of the vote. His only opponent declared that he had
voted for Karimov! In his 2007 reelection, widely regarded
as fraudulent, he won 88 percent of the vote. Elections in
Uzbekistan are similar to those that Joseph Stalin used to
organize in the heyday of the Soviet Union. One in 1937
was famously covered by New York Times correspondent
Harold Denny, who reproduced a translation from Pravda ,
the newspaper of the Communist Party, which was meant
to convey the tension and excitement of Soviet elections:
Midnight has struck. The twelfth of
December, the day of the first general, equal
and direct elections to the Supreme Soviet,
has ended. The result of the voting is about to
be announced.
The commission remains alone in its room.
It is quiet, and the lamps are shining
solemnly. Amid the general attentive and
intense expectation the chairman performs all
the necessary formalities before counting of
the ballots—checking up by list how many
voters there were and how many have voted
—and the result is 100 per cent. 100 per
cent! What election in what country for what
candidate has given a 100 per cent
response?
The main business starts now. Excitedly
the chairman inspects the seals on the
boxes. Then the members of the commission
inspect them. The seals are intact and are cut
off. The boxes are opened.
It is quiet. They sit attentively and seriously,