Just six hours into voting for parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan, the Central Asian republic's election commission reported that some 57 percent of eligible voters had already cast a ballot.

As he voted, President Islam Karimov told reporters that Sunday's elections were a step in larger democratization process.

"Everything that has been done in this period, especially since 2000, has given a new impulse," Karimov said. "I admit that in our parliament there is very weak control over the executive power. I think we should change this," he added.

But rights groups and election observers are not convinced and no opposition parties will take part in the elections. The authoritarian Karimov has ensured that only four pro-government parties will be able to compete for 150 seats in the lower house of the country's bicameral legislature.

"Efforts to register by other political groups…have been unsuccessful," said the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), in a report in October.

"As a result, voters do not enjoy a genuine choice of parliamentary candidates representing views significantly different from those of the government."

The OSCE refused to send a full election-monitoring team to the polls, citing a failure to improve electoral conditions. It said some changes to the country's electoral laws amounted to a step backwards.

Pre-election crackdown

Ever since Uzbekistan gained independence from Soviet rule in 1991, Rights groups have listed it among the world's most repressive countries.

In the lead up to this year's polls, rights groups have accused the government of cracking down on activists and opponents.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), which is headquartered in New York, said "dozens" of activists had been placed under house arrest and warned not to leave their homes until after the polls.

There has been no visible campaigning and residents of the capital, Tashkent, have been reluctant to speak to reporters.

The OSCE said press freedom had been "severely restricted" and political campaigning largely controlled by the country's central election commission.

"This pre-election crackdown in Uzbekistan is as chilling as it is predictable," said Holly Cartner, HRW's Europe and Central Asia director, and urged the international community to put pressure on Karimov's administration.

Deaf ears

But appeals for action are likely to fall on deaf ears.

Western governments have had little to say about the abuses as they seek to re-engage with a country which could become a vital supply route for the conflict in Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan agreed to allow non-military supplies to pass through its territory earlier this year. Since then, the US has stepped up its contacts with the regime and the European Union lifted the last of its sanctions against the country in October.

The sanctions were introduced in response to the Uzbek government's violent crackdown on protestors in 2005, when state forces opened fire on a demonstration in the eastern city of Andizhan, killing hundreds of people, according to witnesses.

hf/nw/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer