Early presidential elections begin in Uzbekistan

On June 28, early voting in the presidential elections started in Uzbekistan. It will last until July 5, and the elections themselves will take place on July 9, the press service of the CEC of Uzbekistan reports. These early (three years before the end of office) elections became possible after the amendments to the Constitution following a referendum in May. They provide for an increase in the term of office of the head of state from five to seven years. According to the amendments, the incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is in office for the second time, received the right to run for this post twice more and, if he wins the current and future elections, he will be able to rule until 2037.

In total, four candidates are running for the post of head of state. The incumbent was nominated by the pro-presidential centre-right Liberal Democratic Party (53 seats in parliament out of 150). In his program, he sets the goal of doubling GDP to $160 billion by 2030, providing all settlements with clean drinking water, building an additional 1 million apartments, and reforming the labor migration system.

The rest of the candidates are less known to the general public. The leader of the opposition left People’s Democratic Party (PDP), former education minister Ulugbek Inoyatov is campaigning for social justice, digitalization of medical services, and the adoption of a law “on establishing minimum consumer spending” guaranteed by the state. Robakhon Makhmudova, representative of the Adolat Social Democratic Party, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court, promises to even out economic growth among the regions, increase the number of specialized judges, develop the institution of advocacy and eradicate the practice of holding businessmen accountable for misappropriation of loans.

Finally, the candidate of the Ecological Party, former forester Abdushukur Khamzaev, is focused on protecting the environment and promoting the rejection of the use of personal vehicles. The second-largest pro-government nationalist democratic party, Milliy Tiklanish, did not nominate a candidate.

Mirziyoyev announced the decision on early voting on May 8 following the results of a referendum on the new version of the Constitution. During that vote, more than 90% of citizens supported the amendments to the Basic Law.

In the previous presidential elections in 2021, Mirziyoyev won 80%, while his rival, the opposition PDP candidate Maksud Varisov, got only 6.6%. The first incumbent head of state was elected in 2016, after the death of his predecessor, Islam Karimov.

The current presidential elections in the republic will obviously end in a landslide victory for the incumbent head of state, Uzbek political scientist Farhod Tolipov is sure. “Thanks to his reforms, Mirziyoyev gained popularity among the people. I do not think that if he is re-elected, he will begin to tighten the screws in domestic politics – there are no signs of a destabilization of the situation or public unrest for this, the expert said. “On the contrary, in his speeches the head of state speaks about the liberalization of the economy, human rights and freedom of speech.”

On the other hand, Tolipov continues, if we talk about reforms, then positive changes primarily occur in the economy, social, cultural and educational spheres, but not in politics: “I hope that during Mirziyoyev’s next term, the political life of the country will also begin to change” .

According to political scientist Rustam Burnashev, after the elections, Tashkent will not make fundamental changes in domestic and foreign policy.

The main foreign policy priority of Uzbekistan, according to Tolipov, is the development of relations with the Central Asian republics: “With all the turbulences and changes in the geopolitical situation in the world, relations with neighbors and integration in the Central Asian region will prevail over other areas in Uzbekistan’s foreign policy.”

Further deepening of cooperation with Russia or China, Tolipov continues, will depend on the dynamics of development in global politics. “We have no preferences for Moscow, Beijing or other capitals. Even if Uzbekistan starts to limit cooperation with this or that state, this will not happen because of a negative attitude towards it, but will depend on various circumstances of the external environment,” the expert concluded.