Election posters are barely visible through the tinted window of the music store. Five juxtaposed sheets made on the same model. Small photographs of the candidates, accompanied by blocks of text in a tiny font. This is the first sign of an electoral campaign observed in the center of the capital, Tashkent. There are only five days until the presidential election, Sunday, October 24, and no sign of political unrest in the streets. “I do not know any of the candidates, apart from the president [Chavkat Mirziyoyev], cowardly, wearily, Jahonguir, an elegant young man leaving the store. I’m going to vote for the president, because I don’t want to exasperate my mother! “
There is no doubt about the re-election of 64-year-old Chavkat Mirziyoyev for a second five-year term. “Will he obtain a plebiscite higher than the score of 88% achieved in the previous ballot in 2016?” Therein lies the unique suspense ”, quips a diplomat stationed in Tashkent. “I’m going to vote for the president, because he’s been in politics for a long time. The others, no one knows them! “, says Alisher, a greengrocer in the Tashkent bazaar. Many Uzbeks emphasize the contrast between the notoriety of the Head of State and the anonymity of his opponents. But the merchant adds positive qualities to it: “The president has done good things: he has built 100,000 housing units in Tashkent. “ Originally from the province, Alisher did not take advantage of it, and recognizes that under the mandate of Mr. Mirziyoyev, “Life has not been easy, but things are slowly improving”. His face suddenly lights up: “And then Putin respects our president, and that is very important for the country. “
Loosen the state grip on the economy
Prime Minister for thirteen years, Chavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in 2016 after the death of the very authoritarian Islam Karimov, first president of this former Soviet republic which became independent from Moscow in 1991. Heir to a double-locked political system, marked through the forced labor of schoolchildren in the fields, the torture of detainees or the massacre of hundreds of civilians in 2005, his successor wants to appear as a reformer. The official press presents since 2020 the new era under the high-sounding expression of “Third rebirth” breaking with “Isolationism” of the Karimov era. A series of economic reforms loosened the state’s grip on the economy. The diplomatic opening started in all directions reassures foreign investors, revives trade and relaxes relations with neighbors in Central Asia.
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