Uzbekistan elects second ever president
Uzbekistan’s acting President Shavkat Mirziyaev won the December 4 presidential election with more than 88 percent of the vote, RFE/RL reports, citing the country’s Central Election Commission.
The vote was called to determine a new leader following the death in early September of longtime autocratic ruler Islam Karimov.
The official turnout was 87.83%, with more than 17.9 million out of some 20 million eligible voters taking part.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) said in a statement on December 5 that the presidential election underscored "the need for comprehensive reforms" in the country.
None of the six previous post-Soviet elections observed in Uzbekistan by ODHIR monitors has been deemed democratic and fair.
Mirziyaev, who had been the country’s prime minister since 2003, was widely expected to win a five-year term after he moved quickly to consolidate his power in the wake of Karimov’s death.
The 59-year-old Mirziyaev was made acting president six days after Karimov’s death was announced, circumventing a constitutional process under which the upper parliament house speaker is supposed to take charge.
Mirziyaev has said that he intends to largely follow the political course of Karimov.
There were three other candidates on the ballot: Khatamjon Ketmanov of the People’s Democratic Party, Sarvar Otamuratov of the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party, and Nariman Umarov of the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party.
All three supported the government.
Ketmanov and Umarov both ran in a 2015 presidential election that critics described as a sham organized to secure a fourth term for Karimov, who had prolonged his power through a series of votes that were condemned as undemocratic by Western states and observers.
Mirziyaev was a loyal ally of Karimov for two decades -- first as a regional governor and then as prime minister.
He has been described by former associates as a strict boss with a violent streak.
A central question about how he will govern is whether he intends to ease the authoritarian rule imposed by Karimov or veer from his policies.
Mirziyaev was quick to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Karimov's death and last month hosted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, with whom Karimov enjoyed patchy relations.
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