Polls close in Uzbekistan’s parliamentary election held without real opposition

Polls closed in Uzbekistan’s parliamentary election Sunday that featured no real opposition to the Central Asian country’s strongman president, despite a recent overhaul of the electoral system and years of reform that have included economic liberalization and easing censorship.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev retains a tight grip on power in the country of 37 million. Since taking office in 2016, he has enjoyed broad support for a slew of political and economic reforms that relaxed the repressive policies of his predecessor, longtime dictatorial leader Ismail Karimov.

Over 71% of voters had cast their ballots by 5 p.m. (1200 GMT), election authorities said, well above the 33% needed for the vote to be valid. Preliminary results are expected on Monday and the final ones within 10 days.

Mirziyoyev has released some political prisoners, allowed the emergence of some independent news media and bloggers, and eased the tight controls on Islam that Karimov imposed to counter dissident views.

But reform appeared to stall last year, following a constitutional referendum in April that reset presidential term limits and could pave the way for Mirziyoyev to stay in office until 2037. Parliament rarely opposes laws drafted by Mirziyoyev’s Cabinet, while rights groups say thousands of people in Uzbekistan remain imprisoned on false charges.

Mirziyoyev’s government in 2022 claimed to have eliminated what rights groups said had amounted to systemic forced labor, but some concerns have remained.

Under changes introduced last year, Uzbekistan switched to a mixed election system, with half of its 150 lawmakers elected from party lists and the other half elected individually. The new rules also stipulate that 40% of those running for parliament must be women.

However, all candidates running in Sunday’s vote have been nominated by the country’s five registered parties. There are differences in focus among the parties, some of which stress issues such as the business climate or environmental protection, but none of them oppose Mirziyoyev.