In 2016, the first president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, died. For twenty-five years he ruled the republic without change, establishing a tough authoritarian regime. Through an unprecedented increase in the influence of law enforcement agencies, he ensured order and stability in the country, but all this was accompanied by the suppression of the individual and the dominance of the state in all spheres of public life.
Soviet period
Local propaganda calls its first national leader the father of independence, but until a certain point he remained absolutely loyal to the USSR, going from a simple engineer to the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR.
President of Uzbekistan Karimov was born back in 1938 in Samarkand. He was trained at the Central Asian Polytechnic Institute, after which he began working at the Tashselmash plant. Then in his career was the Chkalov Aviation Plant, where he worked as an engineer.
In 1966, the novice manager went to work in the State Planning Committee of the Republic. Here Islam Karimov began to climb up the careerladder, reaching the position of Minister of Finance and head of the State Planning Commission. In 1986, he was sent to lead the Kashkadarya region as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the regional committee. Here he established himself as a man of exceptional personal honesty and incorruptibility, which was rare in the eastern republics. After the transfer of the actual head of the Uzbek SSR Rafik Nishanov to Moscow, he became the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Republic.
First President
Islam Karimov showed no particular separatist aspirations and actively agitated the population of Uzbekistan for the preservation of the USSR in a referendum in March 1991. The administrative resource worked properly, and more than 90% of citizens showed loy alty to the central government.
However, after the August coup, the hardened politician understood the essence of the events and immediately declared the independence of Uzbekistan, so that his rivals, greedy for power, would not get ahead of him. In December 1991, the people of Uzbekistan also unanimously voted for the republic's secession from the USSR, which, however, ordered a long life.
Unlike the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, in the CIS, power remained in the hands of the former so-called communists, who instantly changed their political orientation. The example of Uzbekistan was especially indicative, where the members of the Communist Party in full force moved to the People's Democratic Party, which was headed by former First Secretary Islam Karimov.
The presidential elections in the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991 were held on alternative basis. Karimov was opposed by Muhammad Salih, chairman of the Erk movement. 86% of voters voted for the current head, and he led the country.
Islamic question
Uzbekistan President Karimov inherited a difficult legacy. Against the backdrop of a revival of interest in religion, Islamists became noticeably more active, whose positions were especially strong in the Ferghana Valley. To avoid open hostilities, Karimov had to personally fly to Namangan and negotiate with the leaders of the radicals, which required great personal courage.
For tactical purposes, he had to promise the fulfillment of all the conditions of the fundamentalists in the coming years, but then he began to harshly suppress such speeches, squeezing the extremists out of the country.
Economy and the Uzbek model
Having a diploma from the Tashkent Institute of National Economy, the President of Uzbekistan realized himself as a great economist. He even developed a whole national economic model for the republic, the main five provisions of which had to be memorized by every Uzbek schoolchild. The President of Uzbekistan wrote a book about this, which was carefully studied in the lessons of social disciplines in schools and universities.
Unlike Yeltsin, Karimov did not stun his people with shock therapy, making a gradual transition to market relations. Against the backdrop of rampant crime and lawlessness in Russia and Ukraine, the inhabitants of the republic believed that they were lucky, and the President of Uzbekistan was working in the right direction. However, at the beginningin the 2000s, a real stagnation in the economy began, neighboring Kazakhstan rushed forward sharply, while potentially richer Uzbekistan did not demonstrate active development.
Today the main exports are cotton, other agricultural products and natural resources.
It comes to funny and sad. The country, which is one of the ten largest importers of natural gas in the world, sharply reduces the distribution of blue fuel to its citizens in winter, especially in rural areas, which is why traditional heating methods are used - with the help of firewood, dung.
After a stroke, the President of Uzbekistan died on August 29, 2016. The funeral took place on September 3rd. Karimov's successor is former Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
