TASHKENT (TCA) — Acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has won the December 4 presidential election in Uzbekistan with 88.6 percent of the vote, Uzbekistan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said today, announcing preliminary results of the presidential election.
CEC Chairman Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov said late on December 4 that the official turnout was 87.83 percent, with more than 17.9 million out of 20 million eligible voters taking part in the election.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (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.
The 59-year-old Mirziyoyev, who had been the country’s prime minister since 2003, was made acting president six days after longtime President Islam Karimov’s death was announced in early September.
Mirziyoyev earlier said he would continue the political course of Karimov.
There were three other candidates on the ballot, all of which support the government: 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.
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, RFE/RL reported.
