Uzbeks re-elect Mirziyoyev as president
Iran’s Raeisi extends congratulations
By Reza Abesh Ahmadlou
Staff writer
Uzbek incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was re-elected with over 87% of the vote on Sunday, the Central Election Commission announced on Monday.
Reported by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nizomiddin Zaynidinov, the candidate from the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businesspeople - the Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP), Mirziyoyev received 87.05% of the votes.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, in a message on Monday, congratulated his Uzbek counterpart on his victory in the election, hoping for the expansion of relations between Tehran and Tashkent.
The 65-year-old president has opened up the country of 35 million people to foreign trade and investment.
At the same time, the candidate from the Social Democratic Party (SDPU) “Adolat,” Robahon Mahmudova, received 4.43%, the candidate from the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan, Abdukshukur Khamzaev, 3.74%, and the candidate from the People’s Democratic Party (NDPU), Ulugbek Inoyatov, received 4.02%.
The turnout in the early presidential election held on Sunday was 79.8%, or 15.6 million voters, according to the CEC.
According to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 19.66 million voters registered in the presidential elections in the country.
The decision on early voting was announced by 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 came into force, as the president is elected for seven years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.