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Uzbek leader re-elected for seven-year term in snap election

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Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev votes in early presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan July 9, 2023. Press service of the President of Uzbekistan//Handout via REUTERS

Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev votes in early presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan July 9, 2023. Press service of the President of Uzbekistan//Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

TASHKENT, July 10 (Reuters) – Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was re-elected with 87.1% of the vote on Sunday, the Central Election Commission said on Monday, citing preliminary results paving his way to another seven years in power.

Mirziyoyev, who has lead Central Asia’s most populous nation since 2016, called a snap election after changing the constitution through a referendum which reset his term count and extended the presidential term to seven years from five.

The 65-year-old president has opened up the country of 35 million people to foreign trade and investment while also easing restrictions on religious and political freedoms, although there still are no strong opposition groups or politicians in Uzbekistan.

Three other candidates ran in the election, but all represented parties that support the president.

“Uzbekistan’s early presidential election was technically well prepared but lacked genuine competition,” observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a statement.

Mirziyoyev’s key task will now be navigating through the regional crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which has disrupted supply chains across the former Soviet Union and put a stress on diplomatic relations.

Since the start of the war, Tashkent has sought to maintain ties with both Russia, a former Soviet overlord and traditional partner, and the West; Uzbekistan has called for peace and refused to recognise the independence of pro-Russian statelets in eastern Ukraine.

Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; writing by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Jason Neely, Toby Chopra, William Maclean

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