TASHKENT, Jan 16 (Bernama) — Islam Karimov was sworn in as Uzbek president on Wednesday, Russian news agency, Itar-Tass reported.
He made a vow at a joint meeting of both chambers of the national parliament in the presence of the diplomatic corps accredited in Tashkent.
He promised “to faithfully serve the Uzbek nation, to strictly abide by the Constitution and to observe the legislation of the republic, to guarantee civil rights and freedoms and to discharge conscientiously the duties the Uzbek president is vested with.”
Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov, head of the Central Electoral Commission of Uzbekistan, handed a presidential certificate to Karimov.
He said that Karimov had received 88.1 per cent of votes at the elections, held on Dec 23 last year and that the turnout had been 90.6 per cent.
Islam Karimov has been holding the top post in Uzbekistan since 1989, when he became first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan.
He was elected the leader of Uzbekistan at a session of the Uzbek Supreme Soviet in March 1990.
In December 1991 he was elected president of the independent Uzbekistan.
A referendum was held in 1995, as a result of which Karimov’s presidential powers were extended for five years.
A referendum on the Constitution was then held in Uzbekistan in 2002, as a result of which the term in office of a president was extended from five to seven years. This permitted Karimov to hold his post until 2007.
The Central Electoral Commission registered Karimov as a presidential candidate for the third time, explaining it by the fact that, under a new version of the Constitution adopted in January 2002, Karimov would be elected for a period of seven years for the first time.