Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Apr. 6
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
Uzbekistan's Central Election Commission (CEC) decreed unanimously at an open meeting on Apr. 6 to consider Islam Karimov as the country's elected president.
The said decision of the CEC was taken in line with Uzbekistan's constitution, the Law on Election of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Law on the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The protocols, received by the CEC from district election commissions, said that according to the result of the voting held March 29, out of 20,798,052 voters in the list of voters, some 18,942,349 people took part in the election, which constitutes 91.08 percent of the total number of the voters.
The incumbent president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, nominated as a presidential candidate by the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, won a landslide victory in the election garnering 90.39 percent of votes.
Akmal Saidov, nominated by Uzbekistan's Democratic Party Milly Tiklanish (National Revival), gained 582,688 votes, or 3.08 percent of them.
Meanwhile, Hotamzhon Ketmonov, the candidate of the People's Democratic Party, garnered 552,309 votes, or 2.92 percent, and Narimon Umarov, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party Adolat (Justice) gained 389,024 votes, or 2.05 percent of the votes.
During the CEC meeting, it was noted that the presidential election was held in line with the constitution, the Law on Guarantees of Electoral Rights of Citizens and the Law on the Election of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in ensuring the citizens' rights to freedom of expression and complying with the principles of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
As the CEC chairman, Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov, said, the democratic character and transparency of the election campaign was evidences by the participation of 299 observers from 43 countries of America, Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as five international organizations - the OSCE/ODIHR, CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Association of World Election Bodies and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Aside from that, over 35,000 observers from political parties took part in the monitoring of the presidential election.
Earlier, the presidential candidates in Uzbekistan, nominated by three political parties, recognized the election results announced by the CEC and congratulated Islam Karimov on his election as head of state.