Content Uzbekistan

by Nathan Hamm on 12/7/2006 · 5 comments

A poll of Uzbek public opinion conducted on the eve of Constitution Day, reports Ferghana.ru, shows that an overwhelming majority of Uzbeks are content. The polling agency, unsurprisingly, is supported by the government of Uzbekistan and did not reveal its methodology.

Here are some of the reported findings:

“Peace and stability, ethnic and civil harmony are the highest values obtained through independence for the absolute majority of the population or 94.3%.”
“Citizens of Uzbekistan are convinced that the Constitution answers the standards of democracy, social justice, tolerance, and national interests.”
“92.8% of the respondents are firmly convinced that everyone in this country regardless of his or her well-being or social standing, faith, and ethnic origin is equal in the eyes of the law, that everyone’s rights and freedoms are equally observed.”

Ferghana.ru speculates that these results might actually be true, but that the poll was conducted in some other Uzbekistan where everything is wonderful.

{ 5 comments }

1 Brian 12/7/2006 at 2:18 pm: “Peace and stability, ethnic and civil harmony are the highest values obtained through independence for the absolute majority of the population or 94.3%.”

What kind of poll question is that??? I’d like to see how they phrased it.
2 Uzbek 12/7/2006 at 7:27 pm: I bet they phrased it as following:
Do you believe (YES or NO) that peace&stability, ethnic&civil harmony are ONLY values obtained through independence?
3 Ataman Rakin 12/9/2006 at 1:14 am: Come on lads, why do you even wonder? We all know that this poll is prime bollocks and the usual smokescreen.

“The polling agency, unsurprisingly, is supported by the government of Uzbekistan and did not reveal its methodology.”

I would even not be surprised if UNDP funded this.
4 Michael Hancock 12/11/2006 at 10:46 am: Other findings of the poll:

A Majority [93.4 %] of the Citizens of Uzbekistan would gladly bite off the head of their own son if that son was found to be a member of the IMU.

Most [95.6 %] of the people of Uzbekistan are not cold, hungry, thirsty, unemployed, sick, dying, malcontent, mistreated, corrupt, paranoid, fanatical, maniacal, or atheist.

An unsurprisingly small minority [0.23 %] of the population support the IMU, Al-Quaeda, and [sic] other Western-influenced NGOs.

Now – are you sure I’m making those up?
5 Michael Hancock 12/11/2006 at 10:47 am: Wait a second. Are they any NGOs that UZ would consider un-Western-influenced? Maybe I should work on my snarkiness.