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Uzbeks Scale Back Holiday Events, With Karimov Nowhere To Be Seen

September 01, 2016
by RFE/RL

Uzbekistan has celebrated Independence Day events with longtime President Islam Karimov notably absent from the celebrations, four days into an official silence that has set off speculation that the 78-year-old died of what his daughter described as a stroke.

Some unconfirmed and unattributed media reports claimed that Karimov had passed away on August 29.

Adding to the speculation, streets in the center of Karimov's native city of Samarkand were blocked off as cleaning and apparent construction work were taking place on a central square late on September 1.

There was also activity around the Chorraha Mosque in Samarkand.

Security sources told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev had made a trip to the city.

In Karimov's absence, Mirziyaev led a commemorative event in Tashkent on August 31 that marked the start of Independence Day celebrations.

Karimov has not been seen in public since mid-August. Last weekend, the Uzbek government announced that the president had been hospitalized with an unspecified illness.

But Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, Karimov's younger daughter, suggested via social media on August 31 that her father was alive and could recover from what she said earlier was a "brain hemorrhage."

Uzbekistan's tightly controlled state media have not mentioned Karimov's illness, and it also remains unclear who is currently in charge of the Central Asian nation of around 30 million.

However, two days of public ceremonies have been scaled back and scheduled appearances by Karimov, who issued the Uzbek declaration of sovereignty 25 years ago and has ruled ever since, have been canceled.

A holiday speech traditionally delivered by Karimov was read out by a state television anchor during an evening news bulletin on August 31.

The message was read out in the first person as if written by Karimov, in what appeared to be an effort to indicate that he remains in charge. The presenter made no mention of Karimov's condition.

'Everything Is Calm'

Some Uzbek citizens, crossing the border into Kyrgyzstan on August 31, said they were unaware of Karimov's illness.

Two women traveling with their children from the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon told RFE/RL's Current Time that "we know nothing about it, everything is calm where we live."

In the absence of official news on Karimov's health, speculation has raged that a secretive effort was under way to replace the only head of state the former Soviet republic has had since independence.

Karimov has no apparent successor, and observers suggest any such decision would likely be made within the Uzbek president's tight inner circle.

Mirziyaev, who has been prime minister since 2003, is seen as a possible successor, as are Finance Minister Rustam Azimov and National Security Committee head Rustam Inoyatov.

International rights watchdogs and Western officials accuse Karimov of brutally suppressing perceived political opponents, and the country has never held an election deemed democratic by Western monitors.

The Uzbek Constitution states that, if the president is unable to perform his duties, the head of the upper chamber of parliament, the Senate, assumes presidential authority for a period of three months.

No public comments have come from Senate Chairman Nigmatulla Yuldashev, who has led the upper house since January 2015.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, RFE/RL's Current Time TV, Reuters, AP, AFP, TASS, Gazeta.uz, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan- karimov-independence-day-health/27959087.html

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Uzbeks Scale Back Holiday Events, With Karimov Nowhere To Be Seen