MOSCOW
\nUzbekistan is holding a snap presidential election Sunday, a vote that follows a constitutional referendum that extended the incumbent\u2019s term from five to seven years.
\nPresident Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected in 2021 to a second five-year term, the limit allowed by the constitution. But the amendments approved in April\u2019s plebiscite allowed him to begin the count of terms anew and run for two more, raising the possibility that he could stay in office until 2037.
\nThe 65-year-old Mirziyoyev is set to win the vote by landslide against three token rivals.
\n\u201cThe political landscape has remained unchanged, and none of the parliamentary political parties stand in open opposition to the president\u2019s policies and agenda,\u201d the elections observer arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a pre-voting report.
\nSince coming to power in 2016 after the death of longtime dictatorial leader Islam Karimov, Mirziyoyev has introduced a slew of political and economic reforms that eased some of the draconian policies of his predecessor, who made Uzbekistan into one of the region\u2019s most repressive countries.
\nUnder Mirziyoyev, freedom of speech has been expanded compared with the total suppression of dissent during the Karimov era, and some independent news media and bloggers have appeared. He also relaxed the tight controls on Islam in the predominantly Muslim country that Karimov imposed to counter dissident views.
\nAt the same time, Uzbekistan has remained strongly authoritarian with no significant opposition. All registered political parties are loyal to Mirziyoyev.
\nIn April\u2019s referendum, more than 90 percent of those who cast ballots voted to approve the amendments extending the presidential term.
\nAs part of his reforms, Mirziyoyev has abolished state regulation of cotton production and sales, ending decades of forced labor in the country\u2019s cotton industries, a major source of export revenues. Under Karimov, more than 2 million Uzbeks were forced to work in the annual cotton harvest.
\nMirziyoyev has also lifted controls on hard currency, encouraging investment from abroad, and he moved to improve relations with the West that soured under Karimov.
\nHe has maintained close ties with Russia and signed a number of key agreements with China, which became Uzbekistan\u2019s largest trading partner as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.
\nLike the leaders of other ex-Soviet Central Asian nations that have close economic ties with Moscow, Mirziyoyev has engaged in a delicate balancing act after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, steering clear of backing the Russian action but not condemning it either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOSCOW Uzbekistan is holding a snap presidential election Sunday, a vote that follows a constitutional referendum that extended the incumbent\u2019s term from five to seven years. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected in 2021 to a second five-year term, the limit allowed by the constitution. But the amendments approved in April\u2019s plebiscite allowed him to begin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-342257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n