Uzbek president re-elected until 2030

Ghada El Sharkawy from Taskent, Monday 10 Jul 2023

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev won a third term that will keep him in charge for 7 more years, preliminary electoral results showed on Monday.

Uzbekistan s
File Photo: Uzbekistan s President and presidential candidate Shavkat Mirziyoyev. AFP

 

Mirziyoyev, who was running against three largely unknown candidates, won the election with 87 percent of the vote. 

Robakhon Makhmoudova of the Justice Social Democratic Party obtained 4.43 percent of the vote, Ulugbek Inoyatov of the Democratic People's Party obtained 4.02 percent and Abdushukur Khamzaev of the  Ecological Party Of Uzbekistan obtained 3.74 percent.

According to the electoral commission, 79 percent of Uzbekistan's approximately 20 million eligible voters participated in the elections. By law, the final results must be published no later than 10 days after the vote.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his Uzbek counterpart's success. "This convincing electoral victory confirms your high political authority and points to the broad, popular support for your policy of large-scale reforms," Putin said in a message published on the Kremlin website.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping also called Mirziyoyev to congratulate him, Beijing's state media reported.

"Xi Jinping pointed out, in recent years, under our joint leadership, China-Uzbekistan relations have achieved breakthrough development, and cooperation in various fields has been comprehensively strengthened," state broadcaster CCTV said.

"I am willing to work with you to promote the continuous development of the China-Uzbekistan comprehensive strategic partnership and inject new impetus into the construction of a China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future," said Xi.

Mirziyoyev announced early presidential elections in Uzbekistan last May after the constitutional referendum that took place on April 30.

The 65-year-old has promised to open up Uzbekistan to foreign investment and tourism and implement key domestic reforms in the gas-rich Central Asian state.

Mirziyoyev became president in 2016 after serving as Prime Minister for 13 years under former leader Islam Karimov.

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