Uzbeks vote as leader runs against sparse oppositionAFP, TASHKENTVoting was under way in Uzbekistan’s presidential election yesterday, with incumbent Shavkat Mirziyoyev facing no real opposition, but plenty of challenges as he bids to reform the former Soviet country while maintaining its authoritarian foundations. Election workers listen to the Uzbek national anthem at a polling station in Tashkent yesterday. Mirziyoyev cast his own vote at a polling station on Tashkent’s outskirts, where he appeared alongside his wife, Ziroatkhon Hoshimova, and their three children. Mirziyoyev smiled as he posed for photographs before dropping his vote in the ballot box, but did not address the media. The man — who gave his first name, Sardor — said he would vote for Mirziyoyev.

Source: Taipei Times October 24, 2021 17:06 UTC