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Uzbek vote, blasted by West, set to prop Karimov
By Dmitry Solovyov
TASHKENT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Ex-Soviet Uzbekistan, newly allied to the United States, stages a referendum on Sunday on extending the president's term, a vote denounced in the West as a ploy to prolong President Islam Karimov's stay in office.
Karimov, a 63-year-old former Communist party boss, has enthusiastically embraced the U.S.-led campaign to oust the Taliban in next-door Afghanistan and allowed the deployment of at least 1,500 U.S. troops at Uzbekistan's Khanabad airbase.
But although Karimov has hosted top U.S. officials, he has also come under fire for crackdowns on the opposition and sluggish economic reforms in his nation of 25 million.
Voters will be handed ballot papers asking "yes" or "no" to approve a proposed extension of the president's five-year term to seven years, without mentioning Karimov by name.
Those in favour need only drop the papers in a ballot box, while those opposed must mark their choice in an adjacent booth in the same manner as Soviet-era elections. Voters will also be offered food and the festive atmosphere of Soviet-style polls.
Karimov's current second term, which constitutionally must be his last, expires in 2005.
An official suggested on Friday that the constitution might be amended again after the vote to give Karimov a chance to run for a third term.
With the opposition muzzled, the free press banned and thousands of political opponents in prison, many voters view the referendum as a routine act to extend Karimov's term. And many see Karimov as a source of stability.
"I will definitely go and vote tomorrow for Karimov's seven years. In fact, I want Karimov to keep power for life," Umit, a 25-year-old construction worker, told Reuters in Brichmulla, a mountain community 100 km (60 miles) from Tashkent.
"Who else is there around to be our president?"
TELEVISION, POSTERS CALL FOR HIGH TURNOUT
On the eve of the vote, a handful of posters dotted central Tashkent urging voters to cast ballots.
State television showed various preparations, including footage of a woman entering an office "to familiarise herself with procedures." It also said monitors from 32 countries would attend the vote, including many ex-Soviet states.
But the United States said it would not send observers as past polls had been "neither free nor fair." Human Rights Watch, a democracy and human rights group, described the vote as "a blatant grab for power."
Karimov has avoided public comment on the referendum, called by a compliant legislature last month. A 1995 referendum, staged when Karimov was part-way through his first five-year term, extended his mandate to 2000.
In January 2000, Karimov won his second term with over 92 percent support in a poll largely ignored by international observers who said there was no chance for a genuine contest.
Few real alternatives have emerged to Karimov, in power for all but a short period since taking over the local communist party in 1989, two years before the collapse of Soviet rule.
Karimov exhorts Uzbeks, who are mainly Muslims, to endure hardships in return for "stability" and "predictability." He says a tight rein is needed to fight "religious extremism."
A second referendum question asks voters to change the present single-chamber parliament into a bicameral legislature.
Voting begins at 6 a.m. (0100 GMT) and closes at 8 p.m. (1500 GMT). Preliminary results are expected early on Monday.
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