Uzbekistan holds vote set to cement president’s rule
Uzbekistan was holding a presidential election yesterday that is set to hand incumbent Shavkat Mirziyoyev a third term as head of the gas-rich Central Asian state.
The 65-year-old Mirziyoyev has promised to open up his country, a tightly controlled former Soviet republic, to foreign investment and tourism.
He served as prime minister under his hardline predecessor Islam Karimov before winning his first term in 2016 and getting re-elected in 2021.
A constitutional referendum this year paved the way for him to serve two more presidential terms and increased the mandate from five years to seven, meaning he could stay in power until 2037.
"I hope the next president will be Shavkat (Mirziyoyev). I am expecting him to increase the fight against corruption and to notice the ecological problems we have," said Nodira Khidoyatova, a 57-year-old company director, after casting her ballot.
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