Elections in Uzbekistan declared valid

In Uzbekistan, the early presidential elections were recognized as valid, the turnout by 11:00 a.m. exceeded the required threshold and amounted to 33.54%, follows from the data of the CEC of the republic.

Polling stations in Uzbekistan opened at 8:00. Three hours later, by data Election Commission, 6.46 million citizens voted.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the country Bekmurad Abdullayev said that no violations of public order were recorded during the elections, the situation is stable.

Early (three years before the expiration of powers) 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.

Mirziyoyev’s current mandate expired in 2026. He was first elected to the presidency in 2016 after the death of his predecessor, Islam Karimov, with 88% of the vote, and was re-elected in 2021 with 80% of the vote.

The rivals of the incumbent in the early elections were the leader of the left-wing opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), former Minister of Education Ulugbek Inoyatov, representative of the Social Democratic Adolat Party, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court Robakhon Makhmudova and candidate from the Ecological Party, former forester Abdushukur Khamzaev.