Uzbekistan's incumbent leader wins 2nd term in office
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) - Uzbekistan's incumbent leader has won a second five-year term in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation, preliminary results showed Monday.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received 80.1% of Sunday's vote, the country's Central Election Commission announced.
Mirziyoyev, who took office in 2016 following the death of longtime President Islam Karimov, has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor but maintained rigid controls over the political scene.
In Sunday's election, he faced four relatively low-visibility candidates who didn´t even show up for televised debates, instead sending proxies who failed to engage in substantial discussions. Independent candidates weren´t allowed.
Under Mirziyoyev, freedom of speech has expanded compared with the suppression of the Karimov era, and some independent news media and bloggers have appeared. He also relaxed the tight controls on Islam in the predominantly Muslim country that Karimov imposed to counter dissident views.
Mirziyoyev lifted controls on hard currency, helping encourage foreign investment, and he moved to patch up foreign relations that soured under Karimov.
FILE - In this file Friday, Oct. 11, 2019 file photo, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attends the meeting of the heads of CIS states in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan's president is expected to win a new term by a landslide against weak competition in an election Sunday. Shavkat Mirziyoyev has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor but has made little effort at political reform. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
"Mirziyoyev improved relations with world players such as Russia, China and the West, while also resolving conflicts with neighbors including establishing peaceful interaction with Afghanistan," said Andrey Kazantsev of the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations.
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan share a 144-kilometer (89-mile) border, and Uzbekistan has consistently worried that conflict could spill over. The ex-Soviet republic´s foreign minister became the first foreign official to visit Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country in August.
People line up to cast vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor but has made little effort at political reform, is expected to win a new term by a landslide against weak competition in an election Sunday.(AP Photo)
People stand in a line at a polling station during the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbeks voted Sunday in a presidential election that the incumbent is expected to win in a landslide against weak competition. Although Shavkat Mirziyoyev has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor, he has made little effort at political reform. He took office in 2016 upon the death of Islam Karimov and faces four relatively low-visibility candidates who did not even show up for televised debates. (AP Photo)
A woman walks to cast her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbekistan's President, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor but has made little effort at political reform, is expected to win a new term by a landslide against weak competition in an election Sunday. (AP Photo)
A man casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbeks voted Sunday in a presidential election that the incumbent is expected to win in a landslide against weak competition. Although Shavkat Mirziyoyev has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor, he has made little effort at political reform. He took office in 2016 upon the death of Islam Karimov and faces four relatively low-visibility candidates who did not even show up for televised debates. (AP Photo)
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbekistan's President, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor but has made little effort at political reform, is expected to win a new term by a landslide against weak competition in an election Sunday. (AP Photo)
People stand in a line to a polling station during the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbeks voted Sunday in a presidential election that the incumbent is expected to win in a landslide against weak competition. Although Shavkat Mirziyoyev has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor, he has made little effort at political reform. He took office in 2016 upon the death of Islam Karimov and faces four relatively low-visibility candidates who did not even show up for televised debates. (AP Photo)
Members of an election commission pulls ballots out of a box preparing to count them at a polling station after the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbekistan's President, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor but has made little effort at political reform, is expected to win a new term by a landslide against weak competition in an election Sunday. (AP Photo)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbekistan's President, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has relaxed many of the policies of his dictatorial predecessor but has made little effort at political reform, is expected to win a new term by a landslide against weak competition in an election Sunday. (AP Photo)
