Of these, 135 were directly elected from single member constituencies using the two-round system, while 15 seats were reserved for the country's Ecological Movement.

[5] Veronica Szente Goldston, Human Rights Watch Advocacy Director for Europe and Central Asia, said the pre-election situation in Uzbekistan has been marked by intense repression by the government: "Human rights are violated everywhere around the country, there is no political competition, all the parties that are running for this election are supporting the government.

Transcripts from these shows were reprinted in newspapers, and billboards also appeared touting the upcoming choice that Uzbeks had to make.

[4] Freedom House, a US-based human rights organization, says the discussions appeared on television for the first time, which was a positive development, but that "We have some evidence from Uzbek activists that those debates were scripted.

[2] On 24 December all 16 million mobile phone users in Uzbekistan received an SMS informing them of the forthcoming elections.

[10] According to an Uzbek living in exile in the United States, "there are certain groups of the population which are under pressure and they are compelled to participate in the election – students, teachers, government employees.