ID :
361509
Sat, 03/28/2015 - 05:15
Auther :

Current President Karimov A Popular Choice For Uzbekistan's New President

From Nor Faridah Abd Rashid TASHKENT, March 28 (Bernama) -- There are no posters, banners or flags lined along the major roads here to indicate that the people of Uzbekistan will be voting for their president on Sunday. Except for billboards with the names and faces of the four presidential candidates promoting their campaign and what they intend to do for the country, put up along some roads in this capital city of Uzbekistan, it is a quiet presidential election. But perhaps Uzbeks do not really need “poster wars” like what a Malaysian observer had noted during the country's Parliamentary Elections in December last year. Uzbeks know their rights to go out and vote and they take this duty seriously to see their country move towards a more democratic system of government, socio-political and socio-economic development. Head of Information Service, Chief Editor of Uzbekistan Wings, a newspaper of the Uzbekistan Airways, Feruza Kurbanova, 49, already knows whom she wants to vote for. She is voting for the current president Islam Karimov, who will contest with three other candidates for the presidential post. To her Karimov had not only succeeded in developing the country’s economy and infrastructure and turned Uzbekistan into a modern nation, but he had also revived Islam in the country, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. “He has given us the chance to improve our lives and live in peace and harmony apart from improving the future of our young people,” she told Bernama. She felt that the other three candidates were also good but not "as good as Karimov." As for Sadullayeva Laylo Islambayevna, 26, she was impressed with Karimov who focused on youths and provided them with a lot of opportunities to study, pointing out that there are 24 universities in Tashkent. “He has given us a lot of opportunities to further our studies and improve our lives,” said Laylo, who teaches English at the Uzbekistan State World Language University. In KUALA LUMPUR, Uzbekistan Ambassador to Malaysia Murad Askarov told Bernama that all four candidates were given equal opportunities in respect of their campaign, noting however that the current president was the founding father of Uzbekistan. “Due process were given to all the candidates. The people will decide on their own,” he said at a briefing on the Presidential Election 2015 at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur recently. Apart from Karimov who is from the Liberal Democratic Party, the other three candidates are Khatamjan Ketmonov of the People's Democratic Party; Narimon Umarov of the Social Democratic Adolat (Justice) Party, and AkmalSaidov of the Democratic National Renaissance Party. The election campaign started on Dec 26 last year and will end a day before polling on Sunday. Karimov, 77, who has ruled the country for the past two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, won a new seven-year term in December 2007 with 88 per cent of the votes. In 2012, Uzbekistan's parliament amended the constitution to shorten the presidential term from seven to five years. Malaysia established diplomatic relations with Uzbekistan, one of the world's biggest producers of cotton and rich in natural resources including oil,gas and gold, in February 1992. -- BERNAMA

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