The power vacuum in Uzbekistan
The passing of a long-time leader sometimes results in a struggle for succession.
THE leader of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov passed away on Sept 2, 2016. It was just a day after he officially passed the mark of 25 years in office as President.
Incapacitated as he was through a stroke in his final days, he was one of a handful of dominant leaders who enjoyed an iron-clad grip over the ex-Soviet Central Asian region.
Like his counterparts in the region, Karimov transformed himself from an old-school Communist Party secretary-general into president of a nation that maintains a democratic facade.
Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan have both also led their respective countries for more than 20 years. The late Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan was even declared President for life by his parliament in 1999 and Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzistan was another who enjoyed 15 years of unbridled power until he was forced to step down in 2005.
One of the main downsides to such a concentration of authority in one man’s hands means that when his life eventually ends, there is invariably a power vacuum.
The late Karimov was no democrat but he did successfully position himself as a regional bulwark against the possible growth of fundamentalist Islamic movements. Given the region’s relative proximity to fundamentalist battlegrounds such as Afghanistan, such developments are indeed significant.
Yet, there are those who accused Karimov of playing it up to his advantage and exaggerating the threat of militant activity and then claiming to quell it. His regime was under tight control regardless of which vehicle he used.
He moved from the Communist Party to the People’s Democratic Party and then the current ruling Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party, yet commanded the support of all major factions.
Karimov won last year’s presidential election with over 90% of the vote while his closest challenger Akmal Saidov garnered three percent. What does that tell you?
His critics point to a chequered human rights record that includes the disappearance and torture of dissenters. The UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray was even recalled in 2004 after accusing Karimov’s security apparatus of abuses. In May 2005, there was an infamous event when some 400 protesters at Bobur Square in the eastern town of Andijan were gunned down.
Aside from these incidents, the unusual practice of forced labour for large segments of the population for the annual autumn cotton harvest made many resentful.
The president’s own nephew Jamshed was an investigate journalist who tried to expose the repressive elements of the regime and has spent most of the last decade in detention. Among the other detained journalists is Muhammad Bekjanov, who was awarded the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize in 2013.
Jamshed Karimov’s actions are far from the only occasions of family friction to have struck the Karimov regime.
While his son Petr from his first marriage is a low key figure, his glamorous daughters Gulnara and Lola have long been the talk of the town in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent.
Gulnara, 44, who was long favoured, served in the diplomatic service, and has been Uzbekistan’s envoy to the UN as well as serving a stint in Spain. She is heavily involved in a number of lucrative businesses and has dabbled extensively in fashion, while also releasing a number of music videos. She was also involved in a dramatic custody struggle over her children with her first husband.
It all came crashing down however, when charges of massive corruption arose. She is believed to have been under house arrest since 2014.
On the other hand, Lola, 38, was seen publicly mourning her late father and was clearly in the ascendancy. While also trained in diplomacy she has focussed on the safer route of philanthropy. Despite some reports linking her to vast wealth and properties in Switzerland and Beverley Hills, she has not faced the same sort of music her sister has. It’s been reported by the BBC that the two sisters haven’t spoken since 2001.
The succession situation in Uzbekistan is far from clear. Current prime minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev is the interim President but things aren’t certain in a country that has been strongly defined by the personality of its only leader.