Uzbekistan presidential election in 1991

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Uzbekistan's first president Islom Karimov

The 1991 presidential election in Uzbekistan was the first presidential election in the history of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan and was held on December 29, 1991 . Islom Karimov won the election and was the first president of the country .

background

Even before Uzbekistan gained independence, Islom Karimov was one of the country's most important politicians. In 1989 he became party secretary of the Communist Party in Uzbekistan, on March 24, 1990 he became President of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic and held this office until Uzbekistan gained independence on September 1, 1991. Parallel to the presidential elections, an independence referendum was held on December 29, 1991, in which a clear majority of voters voted for the independence of Uzbekistan.

Candidates

Karimov stood in the election as a candidate for the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan , which was founded as the successor to the Communist Party in October 1991. In contrast to the communist predecessor party, the People's Democratic Party presented itself as emphatically conservative-nationalist. As an opposing candidate, the writer and opposition politician Muhammad Salih ran for the liberal democratic party Erk. The opposition politician Abdurrahim Pulatov was not allowed to vote, which led to protests from the opposition. Karimov's actions were interpreted as an attempt to preserve the appearance of democratization through Salih's candidacy, while Pulatov, as Karimov's serious rival, was not allowed to run for election.

Result

Opposing candidate Muhammad Salih

According to official information, Karimov clearly won the election with 86% of the votes cast, while Salih received 12% of the votes. With this result, Karimov became the first President of Uzbekistan and held this post until his death in 2016. Through a referendum in 1995, he was able to extend his term of office until 2000, so that another election was held nine years after the 1991 presidential election.

rating

Foreign observers rated the election as neither free nor fair. Observers from the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe reported multiple votes or votes cast on behalf of other eligible citizens. In addition, the use of state funds and the control of the media by Karimov and his party were cited as major influencing factors that made an open political debate on equal terms impossible. On the part of the opposition around Salih, the accusation of massive election fraud was loud, since the liberal democratic party Erk assumed a much higher share of the vote for its candidate. Human Rights Watch describes the election and with it democracy in Uzbekistan as "seriously damaged".

Individual evidence

  1. Uzbekistan's Parliamentary Elections: Business As Usual (Except For One Thing). Retrieved March 20, 2020 .
  2. Orphaned Dictator: The Making Of Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov. Retrieved March 20, 2020 .
  3. ^ Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Ed.): The Referendum on Independence and Presidential Elections in Uzbekistan . Tashkent / Samarkand 1991, p. 14th ff .
  4. ^ Report: the Referendum on Indipendence and Presidential Election in Uzbekistan. May 26, 2016, accessed March 20, 2020 .
  5. ^ Background on Islam Karimov. Retrieved March 20, 2020 .