Shavkat Mirziyoyev re-elected as President of Uzbekistan

By Korea Post Correspondent Linda Yoon

I visited a polling station set up at the Textile Technopark building in Shahri district in Tashkent City on July 9.

The polling station building was built in 2016 with the support of the Korea International Development Cooperation Project to promote textile industry exchange and industry-academia cooperation activities between Korea and Uzbekistan.

There is a monument in Korean at the front entrance of the building.

When I entered the polling station, it was a little late (around 3pm), so the ballot box was half full, as many people had already voted.

Now, somewhat older people are voting. A couple in their 50s had just finished voting, so I asked them how they felt about it.

In an interview, the madam in her 50s said, "I have been going to the polls and voting without fail. The reason is not only the value of one vote, but also because as a woman, I have high hopes for the President, and I expect the president-elect to fulfill my hopes." She also expressed her pride in exercising women's sovereignty.

Mirmuhammedova Shahlo, who is in charge of this polling station, cautiously diagnosed, "The age of voters in this area seems to be relatively high compared to other places, but the voter turnout is somewhat high."

She also said, "Even if the Presidential election date is moved up this time, there seems to be no significant change in voter participation."

On the other hand, this polling station, like any other polling station, had observers from the four participating Presidential parties seated on the left side of the entrance, as if to encourage a legitimate voting.

The voting booths were set up across the street from the entrance, including three for the disabled, so that voting could go smoothly without waiting. The polls closed at 6 p.m. on this day.
Incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was re-elected for a third term as the President of Uzbekistan in the Presidential elections in Uzbekisan on July 10, 2023.

The Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan announced on July 10 that, based on preliminary results, Mirziyoyev was re-elected with 87.1% of the vote.
On July 9, the Commission announced that about 70% of the registered voters (some 13.46 million people) cast their ballots by late afternoon, easily surpassing the 33 percent required to validate the poll.

International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that they will hold a news conference on July 10 to present their report on election processes.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev now seen to lead the country as her President until at least 2037.
President Mirziyoyev, who is 65, became President in 2016, following the passage of his predecessor, President Islam Karimov. He served as Karimov’s prime minister for 13 years before moving on to the Presidency.

President-elect. Mirziyoyev won plaudits early in his Presidency, ushering in some reforms and sparking optimism for potential change
Mirziyoyev is credited with eradicating forced labor in the cotton fields, opening the country to tourism and investment, and allowing limited media freedoms.

Some 20 million people were eligible to vote in the landlocked country of 35 million people that is rich in natural gas and strategically placed in a volatile region, bordering Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Mirziyoyev's official opponents were a former education minister, a former high-ranking forestry official, and a career judge.