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AFP
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
UZBEKISTAN went to the polls on Sunday to elect a successor to late strongman Islam Karimov, with long-serving premier Shavkat Mirziyoyev expected to score a comfortable victory.
The Central Electoral Commission in the authoritarian ex-Soviet country said around 72 percent of the 20 million-plus electorate had voted five hours before polling stations were due to close at 1500 GMT.
It published a series of glowingly optimistic quotes attributed to voters on its website.
"We work freely, we have a decent life. We are convinced the country tomorrow will be even better," it quoted farmer Ruzikul Sailikhonov as saying.
"I am sure that my children and grandchildren will be even happier than I am."
Student Sevara Foziljonova was quoted as saying that, while voting,"I realized the importance of my voice in the future development of the country which made me proud."
Mirziyoyev, who was appointed prime minister in 2003, became interim president following Karimov's death aged 78 in September from a stroke.
He cast his vote in the capital Tashkent before 0600 GMT according to state media.
Representing the same Liberal-Democratic Party that Karimov stood for in the last presidential vote in 2015, he is facing three other challengers in a bid to secure a five-year term.
But analysts noted that the other candidates are not critical of Mirziyoyev or the regime in the country bordering Afghanistan where Beijing, Moscow, and Washington all vie for influence.
"The format for Uzbek elections has not changed since Karimov's death," said Kamoliddin Rabbimov, an Uzbek political analyst who lives in France.
"If anything, efforts have been made to ensure other candidates are even more obscure because Mirziyoyev's stature among the population is not yet what Karimov's was," he told AFP.
"Uzbekistan has its own specific take on democracy. There will be no surprises here," he added.
Karimov's 27-year reign began in 1989 at the tail-end of the Soviet era, and was often criticised for extreme abuses of human rights.
In the run-up to the polls Mirziyoyev created an online forum for public complaints and pledged to prioritise economic reforms as many Uzbeks struggle to eke out a living.
As premier for 13 years Mirziyoyev was regularly touted as a potential successor to Karimov.
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05/12/2016
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