Uzbekistan gears up for elections

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Official preparations for the presidential election in Uzbekistan have begun, the government says.

The long-awaited vote will take place on 23 December.

It is not yet clear who the candidates will be and whether President Islam Karimov, long-time ruler of the Central Asian republic, will run for office.

The International Crisis Group recently said the international community should brace itself for civil conflict in the country when Mr Karimov leaves office.

Election officials in Uzbekistan say they have begun identifying electoral districts and marking polling stations.

But, they say, it may take another month before the candidates are nominated.

In the meantime, the country must wait for President Karimov to decide whether he intends stay on.

Dangerous mix

No-one in Uzbekistan seems to know what Mr Karimov's plans are.

His critics say that, having served two terms, he cannot constitutionally run for re-election, but there is a legal loophole that the government could use to justify his candidacy.

But either way, no-one expects him to let go of his tight grip on power.

Even if Mr Karimov nominates a successor, as many believe he may do, he is likely to remain the only real decision-maker in Uzbekistan.

Effectively, Mr Karimov has been in power since 1989 - during which Uzbekistan has slipped steadily into economic decay and political stagnation.

Today, Central Asia's biggest country is among the most isolated, most impoverished and most repressed societies in the former Soviet Union.

Uzbekistan is a police state; a place where dissenting voices are not tolerated, where prisons are full of those who dared to speak up, and where there is little freedom of any kind.

But while many Uzbeks, both at home and abroad, are desperate to see changes, many say they are aware that Mr Karimov's absolute rule, and the fear such rule has imposed on people, is the only thing keeping a lid on the dangerous mix of tension and discontent.