Following the death of President Karimov, Mirziyoyev was appointed by theOliy Majlis as acting president of Uzbekistan on 8 September 2016.[4] He was subsequently elected to a full five-year term as president in the2016 election from theUzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (OʻzLiDeP), winning 88.6% of the vote. Mirziyoyev was re-elected for second five-year term with 80.3% of the vote in the2021 presidential election,[5] and then again for a renewed first seven-year term with 87.7% of the vote in a snap2023 presidential election as anindependent candidate with the OʻzLiDeP backing,[6] after a constitutional amendment had granted him to legally run for third time after resetting his presidential term of office.[7]
Under his presidency, Mirziyoyev implemented a range of liberal reforms in Uzbekistan’s political system, economy by creating a favorable business-climate, attracting foreign investment and re-integrating the country into theWTO, consolidation and unity ofCentral Asian region through resolution of pressing issues by attracting foreigninvestment, development of an open foreign policy and multifaceted cooperation with the Western, European, Eastern and Middle East countries, as well as release of political prisoners that was notably accompanied by closure of the infamousJaslyk Prison in 2019.[8][9] In late 2021, he announced a series of constitutional reforms which included an abolition ofcapital punishment and the protection ofhuman rights,[10][11] which were ratified following the2023 constitutional referendum with an overwhelming 90.6% of support.[12] One of the proposed changes had initially included a removal of the semi-autonomousKarakalpakstan's right to secession, which led todeadly unrest in the region in July 2022 with the protests being brutally suppressed and resulting in the scrapping of the controversial proposal.[13]
Mirziyoyev was born on 24 July 1957[14][15] in theJizzakh Region of theUzbek SSR.[16] Some media outlets alleged that he was actually born in the village ofYakhtan in theLeninabad Oblast (now theSughd Region) ofTajikistan, and even unconfirmed claims that he was allegedly aTajik. After an investigation by several journalists, it was revealed that Yakhtan is the native home of Mirziyoyev's grandfather on his father's side, and that Mirziyoyev himself is an Uzbek, and not a Tajik.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] His father, Miromon Mirziyoyevich Mirziyoyev, worked as aphysician for most of his life until death. He worked as the head physician of the tuberculosis dispensary inZaamin.O‘rinbek Yoqubov, a cousin of Miromon, being a veteran ofWorld War II, became aHero of the Soviet Union in April 1944. Shavkat's mother Marifat, died at a young age fromtuberculosis, which she contracted in the Zaamin tuberculosis dispensary, where she worked as a nurse. After the death of his wife, Miromon Mirziyoyev married a second time to a woman fromTatarstan.[18][23]
In 1990, Mirziyoyev was appointed a deputy of the Supreme council of the republic, where he served as a chairman of the Mandate commission.
In 1992, he was appointed a governor (Hakim) ofMirzo Ulugbek District ofTashkent. In 1996-2001 worked as a hokim ofJizzakh Region, and 2001-2003 hokim ofSamarqand Region, contributing to their social-economic development.[1] He was nominated as prime minister by PresidentIslam Karimov on 12 December 2003, and approved by the Uzbek parliament. He replaced Prime MinisterOʻtkir Sultonov.
Mirziyoyev was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2003 and subsequently re-approved three times (in 2005, 2010, and 2015) in his post by both Chambers of theOliy Majlis.
In his activities, Shavkat Mirziyoyev attached special significance to economic development on an industrial basis, improving the country's exporting potential, fundamentally transforming the agricultural sector, especially through the extensive advancement of farming enterprises, deep processing of agricultural products, providing food security for the nation, and guaranteeing the supply of goods to the population at reasonable prices.
On September 8, 2016, following the death ofIslam Karimov, based on a joint resolution of the Legislative Chamber (Lower House) and Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan adopted at a joint session, Mirziyoyev was temporarily assigned the duties and powers of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
In recognition of the many years of work in government, contribution to the country’s development, and improvement of the people’s welfare, Shavkat Mirziyoyev was awarded the Order “Mehnat shuhrati” (‘Glory of Labor’) and “Fidokorona xizmatlari uchun” (‘For Selfless Service’).
On October 19, 2016, the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen -Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (UzLiDeP) nominated Mirziyoyev as the candidate for the presidential elections.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected President of the Republic of Uzbekistan with 88.61 percent of the vote based on the results of the presidential elections that took place on December 4, 2016, officially assuming the post on December 14, 2016.
On October 24, 2021 Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been re-elected for a second five-year term, winning 80.1% votes.[25] Following the constitutional reform, Mirziyoyev won an early presidential election on July 9, 2023 with 87,05% votes.
A member of theSamarkand clan, he was considered to be one of the leading potential successors toIslam Karimov as President of Uzbekistan. Mirziyoyev was reported to have friendly relations with Karimov's wife,Tatyana Karimova, and National Security Council chairmanRustam Inoyatov.[26]
After the death of Karimov was announced on 2 September 2016, Mirziyoyev was appointed as head of the committee organizing the funeral of the President.[27] That was taken as a sign that Mirziyoyev would succeed Karimov as president.[24] On 8 September 2016, he was appointed as interim president of Uzbekistan by a joint session of both houses of parliament. Although the chairman of the Senate,Nigmatilla Yuldashev, was constitutionally designated as Karimov's successor, Yuldashev proposed that Mirziyoyev take the post of interim president instead in light of Mirziyoyev's "many years of experience".[28] There were expectations that Mirziyoyev would repair Uzbek relations withKyrgyzstan andTajikistan. He started to settle a long-running border dispute with Kyrgyzstan, and regular flights between the capitals of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were set to resume in January 2017 for the first time since 1992.[29][30] The electoral commission announced on 16 September that Mirziyoyev would stand in theDecember 2016 presidential election as the candidate of theLiberal Democratic Party.[31]
Mirziyoyev won the election, held on 4 December 2016, with 88.6% of the vote according to official results, defeating three minor candidates. The election was described byThe Economist as a sham; the paper wrote that Mirziyoyev's bent was as authoritarian as that of Karimov and that state media claimed the choice was between Mirziyoyev, chaos, or Islamic radicalism. It also claimed that the three opponents were only on the ballot to keep up the appearance of pluralism. TheOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the election lacked "a genuine choice," pointing to instances of ballot box stuffing and proxy voting.[32]
On 12 December 2016, Deputy Prime MinisterAbdulla Aripov was nominated to take over from Mirziyoyev as prime minister.[33] Mirziyoyev was sworn in as president on 14 December, vowing to "continue the work of my dear teacher, the great statesman Islam Karimov", while also promising "many changes in the cabinet". Aripov was confirmed as prime minister by parliament on the same day;[34] a cabinet reshuffle followed on 15 December.[35] On 6 March 2017, he made a state visit toTurkmenistan; it was his first foreign trip after the election.[36]
In the three months following the death of Islam Karimov, Mirziyoyev began to hint at reforms to longstanding policies that had held back the Uzbek economy and isolated the country internationally, so many analysts believed that Mirziyoyev would be a better president than his predecessor.[37][38]
However, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development noted that "The people of Uzbekistan play no part in political decision-making processes. So far, no parliamentary or presidential election held in the post-Soviet era has been considered as either free or fair by the international community... Given the sensitive political situation in Uzbekistan, development cooperation activities there are implemented as far away from government circles as possible."[39] Nevertheless, some positive results of his rule are visible. Uzbekistan created more than 336,000 new jobs in 2017.[40] The volume of exports increased by almost 15 percent. In 2018, the total financial indicator of exports is expected at 12.1 billion US dollars.[41] He initiated the project of "Tashkent City", intended to attract foreign investors to Uzbekistan. Mirziyoyev promised to resume negotiations with theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) on joining the organization in 2018. On several occasions, he sharply criticized the administration and officials in the presence of media.[42]
On 22 December, the first time in the country's history, Shavkat Mirziyoyev made an appeal to the parliament. His speech lasted four hours.[43] He said:
Some people tell me that I did not know about everything in my country when I was a prime minister? I knew everything, but the environment was bad. Now I am talking about it openly, even if some people do not like it. Several years the so-called ‘rats’, ‘the children of some people’ did much to spoil the country's investment fund. Corruption is implicated in many investment projects, and in some projects, it is 50%. Corruption was also in transport policy, both internal and external.
Some analysts think Mirziyoyev wants to enter in history as a reformer. He removed most of Karimov's officials and urged government to employ "new, young people who love their country." After a year in office, Mirziyoyev is increasingly moving away from his predecessor's policy, which is especially visible in his active foreign policy. He visited all the Uzbek regions and big cities to get acquainted with the implementation of the projects and reforms which he had ordered. Many analysts and Western media compared his rule with Chinese leaderDeng Xiaoping or Russian leaderMikhail Gorbachev; his rule has been quoted as being an "Uzbek Spring".[44]
At the end of that year, he was named the "Asian of the Year of 2018" by the Asia Journalist Association (AJA).[45]
In July 2021, Mirziyoyev's spokesperson attempted to generate some suspense as to whether or not the President would run in the elections again. It was widely acknowledged that Mirziyoyev would not only participate but likely win.[47][48]
On 1 July 2022protests broke out in the autonomous region ofKarakalpakstan over proposed amendments to theConstitution of Uzbekistan which would have ended Karakalpakstan's status as an autonomous region of Uzbekistan and right to secede from Uzbekistan via referendum. They were brutally suppressed, at least 18 people were killed.[49] President Mirziyoyev traveled toNukus on July 2 in the midst of the crisis. He announced that the controversial constitutional changes affecting Karakalpakstan would be withdrawn.[50]
The updated Constitution defines Uzbekistan the first time as a social, secular and legal state. Main changes include a shift from the principle of state-society-individual to individual-society-state. The norms relating to the state’s social obligations have been tripled. It is emphasized that ensuring human rights and freedoms is the highest goal of the state.
In April 2023, areferendum was held in Uzbekistan to change the constitution. The adopted amendments increased the presidential term from 5 to 7 years. The number of terms is still limited to two, but due to a change in the constitution, Mirziyoyev's previous presidencies are not counted. Shortly thereafter, the head of state called early elections. They passed on July 9, 2023. Mirziyoyev won with 87% of the vote on a turnout of almost 80%.[51]
Mirziyoyev's foreign policy is much more open than the policy of his predecessor. Uzbekistan was practically under international isolation after theAndijan massacre in 2005 and Karimov rarely travelled outside of Central Asia and other CIS states. Mirziyoyev promised to conduct an active foreign policy at the beginning of his tenure.
One of his most significant foreign policy achievements is the gradual improvement of relations withKyrgyzstan andTajikistan.[52][53] On 5 September 2017, just 3 days after the anniversary of the death of his predecessor, he made a historic visit to Kyrgyzstan. This was the first state visit of an Uzbek president to the neighboring country since 2000.[54] On 19 September 2017, Mirziyoyev addressed theUN General Assembly for the first time.
In 2018, a large number of foreign leaders visited or were expected in Uzbekistan, including Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi, Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Belarusian PresidentAlexander Lukashenko, whose visit took place in September and was his first state visit to the country in 24 years.[55] In March 2018, Mirziyoyev made a visit to Tajikistan, which made him the first Uzbek president to conduct a state visit toDushanbe since 2000.[56][57]
In March 2019, Mirziyoyev held a telephone conversation withNursultan Nazarbayev, who had resigned from office that day. In it, he expressed regret to the ex-president, saying that he was a "great politician".[58][59] During a visit toAbu Dhabi in March 2019, Mirziyoyev came away from his talks with Crown PrinceMohammed bin Zayed with over $10 billion in infrastructure, alternative energy and agriculture deals, as well as deals in other spheres.[60]
In 2022 Uzbekistan hosted the 22ndShanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Samarkand. During the summit, which was attended by world leaders Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev, presidents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia, and the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, it was noted that the Chinese and Indian leaders chastised President Putin about his role in Ukraine.[61] In preparation for the Summit, the president ordered that the city be redeveloped. This included the construction of a new international airport[62] and a tourism complex that has had mixed reviews.[63]
Mirziyoyev has also taken an important role in Afghanistan by offering to host peace talks between the government and theTaliban since March 2018. During the week of 6–10 August 2018, a Taliban delegation visitedTashkent, at the request of Mirziyoyev, to discuss issues including transport, power and peace in Afghanistan.[64][65] Mirziyoyev attended theVibrant Gujarat international investment summit as a key guest, being the first Central Asian leader to participate as a partner in the summit.[66] In early 2019, it was announced that Mirziyoyev planned to visit 36 countries in official visits throughout the year.
Mirziyoyev with U.S. Secretary of StateAntony Blinken on 1 March 2023
In October 2020, Mirziyoyev issued a decree to accelerate the full Latinization of the Uzbek language that outlined language policy for the 2020–30 period as the country continues an on-again, off-again attempt to reform the Uzbek language and widen its use.[67] Some of the main parts of the degree called on the development of a road map for a full transition to theUzbek alphabet based on the Latin alphabet, as well as government officials by April 2021 to be certified in their knowledge of Uzbek.[67]
Historical and cultural heritage of Uzbekistan is widely promoted through cultural diplomacy efforts. Uzbekistan’s art, culture and architecture works were represented at La Biennale di Venezia in 2021 (Mahalla Stories), ballet performance at Dubai Opera in 2021 (Lazgi – dance of the soul and love), the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2022 (seminal work of Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwārizmī), La Biennale di Venezia in 2023 (“Unbuild Together”), “The Splendour of Uzbekistan’s Oases” at the Louvre in 2022 and others.
Since coming to power, Mirziyoyev has built a new residence for himself inQibray District, which includes his own presidential highway,[72] and an interior that is decorated with Argentinian marble slabs andSwarovski crystals.[73]
In February 2021, it was reported that Mirziyoyev was building an exclusive mountain compound, including a new reservoir. The compound, located about 100 kilometers by car from Tashkent, includes a luxurious mansion built for Mirziyoyev and his relatives. Two sources estimated the cost of the development at several hundred million dollars, though only a handful of publicly available official documents make reference to the compound and the adjacent reservoir, which were largely completed by 2019.[74]
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