- Title: Uzbekistan: People Vote In Presidential Election
- Date: 9th January 2000
- Summary: People came out in large numbers, despite heavy snowfall, to vote in the pivotal Central Asian country's presidential poll on January 9, 2000. Uzbekistan is a poor country of some 24 million people. The average monthly wage is 10 US dollars a month on the black market. Although rich in gas and metals, tight currency controls and a centralised economy have driven companies away. However President Islam Karimov has been portrayed as the guarantor of stability in a country riddled by ethnic and religious strife and Uzbekistan's 12 million eligible voters are widely expected to give him another 5 years in power. After casting his vote in the capital Tashkent Karimov, vowed to pursue political and market reforms if re-elected. "Our goal remains the same, we haven't changed our course: to create an open, democratic government and the foundations for a civil society," said Karimov. The 61-year-old also said he would do more to attract foreign investment to his resource-rich republic of 24 million people. Little known Abdulkhafiz Dzhalalov, a philosopher-cum-politician, represents the sole political opposition to Karimov. The West say Dzhalalov was made to stand against the incumbent president to make the elections look fair and democratic. Yet Dzhalalov himself appeared to need some convincing. "(I voted) for peace and stability in Uzbekistan, for its best future, and specifically, though it may be somewhat of a paradox, I voted for Islam Karimov," said Dzhalalov. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has refused to monitor the election, saying that the authorities had failed to give people a "genuine choice. " Despite his softer tone, there was no sign Karimov would stop his fight against what he sees as an extremist Islamic threat to Uzbekistan and the vast Central Asian region. He vowed that "the fight against extremism and the expansion of fanaticism" would continue. Karimov narrowly escaped a series of bombs that went off in Tashkent last February. The blasts, which killed 16 people, were blamed by officials on radical Islamic opponents bent on overthrowing the Uzbek regime. The attack shattered the country's reputation for stability and raised fears of broader unrest. Karimov's tough stance against the suspected bombers, six have been executed and many more arrested, is backed by a nation worried by the threat of the kind of violence that has left neighbours Tajikistan and Afghanistan in ruins.
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- Location: UZBEKISTAN CIS TASHKENT PRESIDENTIAL PALACES
- Reuters ID: LDL0012CPBCBZ
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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- Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
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