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Islam Karimov

Islam Karimov
Islom Karimov
Ислам Каримов
Islam karimov cropped.jpg
1st President of Uzbekistan
In office
1 September 1991 – 2 September 2016
Prime Minister
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Nigmatilla Yuldashev (Acting)
President of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic
In office
24 March 1990 – 1 September 1991
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Position abolished
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan
In office
23 June 1989 – 1 September 1991
Preceded by Rafiq Nishonov
Succeeded by Position abolished
Personal details
Born Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov
(1938-01-30)30 January 1938
Samarkand, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
(now Samarkand, Uzbekistan)
Died 2 September 2016(2016-09-02) (aged 78)
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Cause of death Stroke
Resting place Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Political party
Spouse(s) Natalya Petrovna Kuchmi (1964–196?, divorced)
Tatyana Karimova (1967–2016, his death)
Children

Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov (Uzbek: Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov, Russian: Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was the first president of Uzbekistan from its independence on 1 September 1991 to his death in 2016. Before that, he was the President of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic from 24 March 1990 until he declared the independence of Uzbekistan on 1 September 1991. He was the last First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1989 to 1991, when the party was reconstituted as the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDP); he led the PDP until 1996.

He declared Uzbekistan an independent nation on 31 August 1991 and subsequently won its first presidential election on 29 December 1991, with 86% of the vote. International groups and opposition party cited voting irregularities, with state-run propaganda and a falsified vote count, although the opposing candidate and leader of the Erk Liberty Party, Muhammad Salih, had a chance to participate. Karimov permitted the participation of the opposition organizations Birlik ("Unity") and the Islamic Renaissance Party until he moved to consolidate his power over Shukrullo Mirsaidov, one of the former Communist Party elite who had originally supported Karimov's rise to the Party presidency. The period of political thaw was brief; Karimov began to complicate the registration process of opposition parties during elections. As Birlik grew in strength as a "popular movement", it was denied the ability to register as a "political party" without the required 60,000 signatures. The Karimov government allowed Birlik one day to gather these signatures, 25,000 of which they rejected. Karimov effectively took authoritarian measures to block any meaningful opposition. Since approximately February 2014, Karimov kept his elder daughter, Gulnara, imprisoned. She and her daughter live under armed guard and surveillance cameras.


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