Eliminating Presidential Candidates In Central Asia
July 18, 2021 07:52 GMT
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Jahongir Otajonov just dropped out of the presidential race in Uzbekistan.
“My parents' tears are too high a price to pay,” Otajonov said on Instagram when he announced he was withdrawing as the unregistered Erk Democratic Party's candidate due to pressure on his family.
The obstacles to running for president in Uzbekistan, and in Central Asia, for genuine opposition candidates are formidable.
Incumbents in the region don't appreciate people with fresh ideas, and they tend to use law enforcement, the judicial system, and sometimes thugs to eliminate unwelcome competitors from elections.