Uzbek voters cast ballots in presidential election
By Reza Abesh Ahmadlou
Staff writer
Uzbek voters cast their ballots on Sunday at 10,784 polling stations across the central Asian country, where citizens of the state were able to vote in early presidential election during June 28-July 5.
According to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a sum of 19.66 million voters registered in presidential elections in the country.
At the 55th polling station, established at the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Iran, fellow citizens staying in the country used their constitutional right to take part in the early voting process.
The decision on early voting was announced by the current President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on May 8 following the results of a referendum on a new version of the Constitution (in accordance with Articles 110 and 128 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as Article 66 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan).
This was the first election after the amendments to the Constitution come into force as the president is elected for seven years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
In total, four candidates were nominated for the post of head of state:
from the People’s Democratic Party - Ulugbek Ilyasovich Inoyatov;
from the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Business People - the Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP) - Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev;
from the Social Democratic Party “Adolat” - Robahon Anvarovna Makhmudova;
and from the Ecological Party - Abdushukur Khudoikulovich Khamzaev.
In turn, the Milliy Tiklanish party decided not to nominate its own candidate for participation in the presidential elections, supporting the candidacy of Mirziyoyev.
The program of the candidate for president of Uzbekistan from the People’s Democratic Party Ulugbek Inoyatov said that his main goal was to form a democratic social state in the country that meets the criteria of social justice, social equality and democracy.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a presidential candidate from UzLiDeP, presented the New Uzbekistan Strategy, which provides for reducing poverty by at least two times by 2027, developing the digital economy, deepening reforms in the judicial and legal sphere, increasing life expectancy, and improving public administration.
The candidate for the presidency of Uzbekistan from the social democratic party “Adolat” Robakhon Makhmudova in her program offered a social democratic model for building a “fair civil society”, providing for a democratic legal, social state and prosperity for all.
The presidential candidate from the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan Abdushukur Khamzaev in his election program focused on overcoming the risks caused by climate change and the tragedy of the Aral Sea.