AFP, published Sunday 09 July 2023 at 12:20 p.m.
Uzbekistan’s leader Shavkat Mirzyev cast his ballot in Sunday’s snap presidential election, a poll that will likely keep him in power in Central Asia’s most populous country.
The ballot has already been recognized as valid by the Electoral Commission as more than 52% of the 19.2 million voters voted by 1 p.m. local time (08:00 GMT), seven hours before the 10,800 polling stations in this former Soviet republic were to close.
This presidential election was called by Mr. Mirzioev following the April 30th constitutional referendum, which was approved by more than 90% of voters in this gas-rich country in a strategic location in the heart of Central Asia.
The 65-year-old agricultural engineer was elected in the armchair in 2016 and easily renewed in 2021 without any real competition, according to international observers. He presents himself as a reformer who can lead his country on the path of development and opening up.
To inaugurate the more just “New Uzbekistan” project, the president’s mantra heard everywhere, the April 30 vote also confirmed the transition from the five-year term to the seven-year term and authorized Chavkat Mirzioev to run for two more terms .
Measures that allow the leader to theoretically remain in power until 2037, having been prime minister between 2003 and 2016.
– “Fight against corruption” –
There is little doubt about the result of the vote: all Uzbeks met by AFP pledged that they would vote for the outgoing leader who faces three unknown candidates.
“I hope that Shavkat Mirzioev will become the future president so that he will speed up the fight against corruption, that he will recognize the problems we have with ecology,” hopes Nodira Khidoyatova, a 57-year-old entrepreneur, at the end of an election Like everywhere else the polling booths have no curtains and the ballot papers have no envelopes.
And for voters who can’t move, the ballot box is being brought home, AFP observed, while state media shows images of streams of people moving through the polling stations, sometimes dancing and singing.
“It’s my first choice, I will vote for Chavkat Mirzioev because I want there to be more opportunities for young people and university places,” hopes Milana Iouldacheva, 18, a resident of Krasnogorsk. A request that reflects one of the promises made by the outgoing President.
Rousibou Guibadoullina, a street vendor, wants to “ask presidential candidate Mirzioev that the younger generation can rest in summer camps like in Soviet times” in this former mining town, where a 1950s mural fresco in honor rests on a building in the main square to see the symbol of the USSR.
Because in the predominantly young country with strong population growth, there are still economic difficulties despite progress, many Uzbeks have to travel to Russia to feed their families.
Sunnat Touïtchiev, a 40-year-old welder from Tashkent, expects the new president to solve “gas problems” and “improve the quality of roads” after a winter marked by repeated cuts.
– Huge Favorite –
Internationally, Mr Mirzioev’s stated goal is to continue his policy of openness in order to attract foreign investment, breaking with Uzbekistan’s quarter-century of isolation under Islam Karimov, of which he was Prime Minister.
But internally, the political landscape has changed little, with only five legal parties, all supporting the President’s policies to a greater or lesser extent.
And this election is no exception, where a big favorite meets almost unknown competitors, although the programs and posters in Uzbek and Russian are evenly distributed among the candidates.
A formula already tested in elections in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and highlighted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which described the election campaign as “discreet”, reflecting the absence of opposition to the outgoing president.
And NGOs have criticized the repression of rare anti-constitutional demonstrations in July 2022 in the north of the country, which killed 21 people, according to the official report.