Early polls to continue reforms such as freedom of speech and openness: Uzbekistan President

New Delhi, June 17

The President of UzbekistanShavkat Mirziyoyevhas given a call for early polls, nearly three and a half years before the end of his term.

Campaigning has already kicked off and polling is scheduled for July 9. But for Kyrgyzstan, the other four “stans’’ of Central Asia have been sluggish in holding elections.

Mirziyoyev is the second President of Uzbekistan. He succeeded Islam Karimov, who died in office after ruling for a straight 25 years.

The situation is similar in the largest Central Asian country Kazakhstan where the first President held office for 29 years. Elections, therefore, have been treated as a riteof passage that has to be endured. This may be the first time that a Central Asian President is saying he puts the elections at the “centre’’ of a “new path with reforms such as freedom of speech and openness that have been implemented in society in recent years,’’ stated an official release.

Two months earlier on April 30, Uzbekistan adopted a new constitution. The country-wide voting that preceded its adoption might have been a formality as 90.21 per cent voted “yes”. But it gave the people the freedom to experiment with choice.

“The people expect us to make very important and urgent changes. All the links of power are being reformed as the relations and the balance between them are seriously changing. Also, the updated Constitution poses new political and socio-economic challenges to the President, parliament, government, ministers and khokims (regional governor),’’ said Mirziyoyev in the statement.

As many as five parties had submitted requests to put up candidates for the Presidential elections and all of them were approved, as per the Uzbek Election Commission.

In the lower House of Uzbekistan, Mirziyoyev’s Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan has only 53 deputies in a House of 150. But Alisher Qodirov, whose Milliy Tiklanish has 32 seats, is backing Mirziyoyev instead of opposing him as he did the last time in 2021. But some challengers like the Erk Democratic Party were not allowed to put up a candidate and The Truth and Progress Party was denied registration.

India would be looking for a stable polity in Uzbekistan as talks take place on a trilateral they have with Iran for communication routes from the port of Chabahar.

Among the candidates are The Ecological Party’s Abdushukur Khamzaev, People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Inoyatov and Robakhon Makhmudova a woman candidate from Social Democratic Party “Adolat”.