The Central Election Commission commenced preparations for Uzbekistan’s early presidential election to be held on 9 July.
A meeting of the Central Election Commission (CEC) is scheduled for May 10 at 11:00 to discuss the declaration of the commencement of the election campaign and to determine the deadlines for preparing and conducting the upcoming elections.
Milliy Tiklanish party leader Alisher Kadirov was the first party leader to react to the news of the early presidential election, saying he supported the decision. “In accordance with the party’s charter, we will start consultations for a collegial decision in due course”, he said.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced the early election May 8 at a meeting with the heads of the Oliy Majlis, parties, judiciary and executive branches. The President’s current term was due to expire in 2026.
In the October 2021 presidential election, Shavkat Mirziyoyev was re-elected for a second term, receiving 80.1% of the vote. Maksuda Varisova of the People’s Democratic Party received 6.6% of the vote, Alisher Kadirov of Milliy Tiklanish 5.5%, Narzulla Oblomuradov of the Environmental Party 4.1% and Bakhrom Abdukhalimov of the Adolat Social-Democratic Party 3.4%.
Presidential and parliamentary candidates in Uzbekistan can only be nominated by political parties. Five parties are registered in the country. The possibility to nominate candidates by initiative groups of voters was removed from the legislation in July 2009 (the OSCE/ODIHR, following the 2016 presidential election, referred to the inability to self-nominate independent candidates as a limitation of Uzbekistan’s electoral legislation).
