TASHKENT – Uzbekistan’s current president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has stretched his rule for another seven years as he bagged the election with a huge margin.
Preliminary results shared by Uzbek election regulator authorities showed Mirziyoyev on top with over 87 percent of the vote. July 9 polls followed a constitutional referendum that extended presidential terms from five to seven years.
Over 15 million people, out of 20 million registered voters, cast their ballots in the snap election.
Shavka’s opponents failed to make any big show in the polls as Robakhon Makhmudova, Ulugbek Inoyatov, and Abdushukur Khamzayev received 4.43pc, 4.02pc and 3.74pc of the vote respectively.
Earlier this year, people of Central Asian nations citizens changed constitutional amendments that provide for the extension of the presidential term and it allows President Mirziyoyev to be elected again after two consecutive terms.
Since getting into power seven years back, Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party leader came up with new political and economic reforms. He has been serving as the President of Uzbekistan since September 2016.
He took President office following the death of his predecessor, Islam Karimov. In his decades-long career, Mirziyoyev held various positions within the government, including serving as the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan from 2003 to 2016.
He pursued a series of reforms aimed at modernizing and opening up Uzbekistan’s economy and political system and implemented measures to improve the business climate, and attract foreign investment.
He also moved to improve his country’s relations with other nations, especially with Russia, China, and the United States.
Under his leadership, the country of nearly 35 million people has seen some major changes as the state takes steps to liberalise currency regime, improve human rights conditions, and increase media freedom.
