The agricultural sector has been slow to privatize. However, living standards for the majority of the population continue to decline. The Government's human rights record was poor, and serious problems remain in several areas. The Government severely limited citizens' right to change their government. The Government barred two opposition politicians from competing in the January presidential elections on administrative grounds and harassed opposition candidates in the fall parliamentary elections.
Democratic institutions remain weak.
The OSCE sent a full observation mission for the parliamentary elections after the Government made some reforms to its electoral law and regulations, but concluded that the elections fell short of the Government's commitments as an OSCE member. In both elections, the Government used an electoral law provision to prohibit some government opponents from running because they previously had been found guilty of political offenses such as publicly insulting the President and participating in unauthorized public meetings and demonstrations. The Government harassed its opponents and appeared complicit in at least four assaults on perceived opponents during the presidential campaign. There were reports of official bias and harassment, but not of violence, during the parliamentary campaign. The legal structure, including the Constitution adopted in 1995, does not fully safeguard human rights.