Rights Groups Set Up New Party in Uzbekistan

Efforts to establish a political party with a human rights agenda are likely to be obstructed by the authorities in Uzbekistan, who keep a tight grip on all forms of political activity.

Organisers of the Halq Manfaatlari ("People's Interests") Social Democratic Party met in the capital Tashkent at the end of November. They include human rights defenders and lawyers, the latter including Ruhiddin Komilov. He has represented a range of dissidents in court, such as journalist Dilmurod Sayid and the poet Yusuf Juma, both of whom are currently in prison.

The party plans to hold a founding congress in March and will seek support from all sections of society, although as Komilov said at the November meeting, it had only gathered 50 signatures in support of its application to register with the authorities. 

This is a fraction of what is required if the party is to become eligible to apply for justice ministry approval; a would-be political party has to produce 50,000 signatures of prospective members drawn from at least eight of Uzbekistan's 16 administrative regions.

"We sense that ordinary citizens support us, yet fear is still stronger than political initiative," Komilov said.

Uzbekistan currently has four officially-sanctioned parties – the Liberal Democratic Party, the People's Democratic Party, the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) National Democratic Party, and the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party. All four parties plus the Ecological Movement hold seats in the lower house of parties.

Opposition parties like Erk and Birlik continue to have followers but are not registered. 

Given the obstacles standing in its way, commentators in Uzbekistan doubt Halq Manfaatlari has much chance of emerging as a significant force.

A member of the Liberal Democratic Party's governing body said on condition of anonymity that the authorities would not allow a truly grassroots party, as opposed to one they themselves had manufactured, to emerge.

"The people are politically illiterate, and are not prepared to do real work," he said, reflecting the official position that democratic institutions should be introduced gradually and managed from top down, and that uncontrolled political activity could be destabilising for the country. 

A representative of the People's Democratic Party argued that there was no need for Halq Manfaatlari because the role of "people's party" was already filled by his own group.

"People don't need two similar parties," he said.

Tashkent-based political analyst Ronash Dustov said there was little likelihood the new party would be registered by the justice ministry. He cited the fruitless efforts of earlier grassroots groups, Ozod Dehkonlar and Birdamlik, to get off the ground.

"While fine slogans and words like fighting for improvement of ordinary people's lives cannot seduce anyone," Dustov said.

Farhod Tolipov, another political analyst in Tashkent, said the emergence of a normal multiparty environment would depend on future reforms, and for the moment the best that Halq Manfaatlari's organisers could do would be to seek an accommodation with the authorities.

"If they were seriously counting on operating in the public eye and obtaining registration, they could try to obtain some kind of unofficial consent," he said.

This article was produced as part of IWPR's News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.