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.