Uzbekistan set to elect parliament loyal to president

27/10/2024 16:06

        Uzbekistan votes in a parliamentary election on Sunday that, in the absence of opposition parties, is certain to produce a legislature loyal to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev despite constitutional reform bringing some procedural changes.
        
        Mirziyoyev has run Central Asia's most populous nation, since 2016, winning broad popularity through liberal economic reforms and an easing of his predecessor's draconian restrictions on political, religious and media freedoms.
        
        However, political power in the nation of 37 million remains concentrated in Mirziyoyev's hands and parliament rarely opposes laws drafted by his cabinet.
        The main change introduced under the 2023 constitutional reform is a switch to a mixed election system, in which only half of the 150 deputies are elected by voting for political parties.
        
        The other 75 candidates will be elected individually, though all of them have also been nominated by Uzbekistan's five registered parties, none of which oppose Mirziyoyev.