Uzbekistan leader wins poll with 88% vote

Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Dec. 5: Uzbekistan’s interim leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev has won a crushing victory to become the country’s second-ever President following the death of longreigning strongman Islam Karimov, official results showed Monday.

The Central Election Commission said Mirziyoyev scooped 88.6 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s election, according to a preliminary count in this Central Asian country of 32 million which has no tradition of competitive elections.

Mr Mirziyoyev’s margin of victory to secure a fiveyear term echoes those won by predecessor Karimov, who died of a stroke in September after 27 years at the helm of the commodity-rich country.

An OSCE-led monitoring mission said there were “indications of ballot box stuffing and widespread proxy voting” during the vote.

“The dominant position of state actors and limits on fundamental freedoms undermined political pluralism and led to a campaign devoid of genuine competition,” mission head Peter Tejler said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “warmly congratulated” Mr Mirziyoyev on his victory in a phone call and invited him to visit, the Kremlim said in a statement.

Mr Mirziyoyev, who was appointed Prime Minister in 2003, represents the same party as his former boss and even squared off against two of the proregime candidates Karimov had faced in the last presidential election in 2015.