Uzbek President Karimov dies after quarter century in power

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has died aged 78, the Uzbekistan government and parliament has said in a joint statement.

>>Reuters
Published : 2 Sept 2016, 09:05 PM
Updated : 2 Sept 2016, 09:06 PM

The statement said Karimov would be buried in Samarkand on Saturday according to Muslim traditions, saying he was "truly great".

Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev was appointed head of the commission organising his burial.

Long criticised by the West and human rights groups for his authoritarian style of leadership, Karimov had ruled Uzbekistan since 1989, first as the head of the local Communist Party and then as president of the newly independent republic from 1991.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim became the first foreign leader to offer condolences over the death of Karimov. The two countries have close ethnic, cultural and linguistic ties.

Karimov did not designate a successor and analysts say the transition of power is likely to be decided behind closed doors by a small group of senior officials and family members.

If they fail to agree on a compromise, however, open confrontation could destabilize Uzbekistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan and has become a target for Islamist militants.

Uzbekistan is a major cotton exporter and is also rich in gold and natural gas.

Succession

Among potential successors to Karimov are Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his deputy Rustam Azimov. Security service chief Rustam Inoyatov and Karimov's younger daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva could become kingmakers.

According to the constitution, Nigmatilla Yuldoshev, the chairman of the upper house of parliament, is supposed to take over after Karimov's death, and elections must take place within three months.

However, analysts do not consider Yuldoshev a serious player. His erstwhile counterpart in Turkmenistan, who was also supposed to become interim leader after the death of authoritarian president Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006, was quickly detained and thus eliminated from the line of succession.

Whoever succeeds Karimov will need to balance carefully between the West, Russia and China, which all vie for influence in the resource-rich Central Asian region.

Another task of the new leader will be resolving tensions with ex-Soviet neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan over disputed borders and the use of common resources such as water.