Established in 1924, federated to the USSR since 1925, the republic of the Uzbekistan became independent in December 1991. Between 1924 and 1929 the Uzbekistan it also included the autonomous republic of Tajikistan and in 1936 the autonomous republic Kara-Kalpakija was included within it. ● The objective of circumscribing the ethnic and religious contrasts, which emerged from 1989, contributed to the strengthening of the authoritarian character of the regime, even after independence, proclaimed in 1991. Despite the adoption of multi-partyism (1992), political life it continued to be dominated by the PDPU (People’s Democratic Party of the Uzbekistan, a name assumed in 1991 by the Communist Party) and the activity of the opposition forces was severely limited; I. Karimov, President of the Republic with executive powers since 1990, was confirmed in office in December 1991; in 1995 the term of his presidential term was extended until 2000. Economically, the government initiated a gradual transition to a market economy. One of the main problems of the country was the containment of the thrusts of Islamic fundamentalism, both internal and those coming from neighboring Afghanistan. To this end, the government consolidated relations with other Central Asian states and tightened repressive measures, outlawing Islamic parties (1996) and enacting heavy anti-terrorism regulations. This helped to accentuate the authoritarian character of the government, but did not prevent the repetition of kidnappings and attacks. The hegemony of the PDPU and Karimov was confirmed by the political elections of 1999 and by the presidential elections of 2000. On the international level, relations with Moscow remained difficult, while those with China and the United States were intensified. Despite attempts to obtain international aid had met with a series of reprimands for the lack of progress in the field of democratic freedoms, human rights and economic reforms, Karimov in 2007, after his seven-year mandate, returned to the elections he won, amid the protests of an opposition weakened by arrests and intimidation, being expected to be reconfirmed for a fourth term in 2015 and holding the post until his death in September 2016; in the following December, SM Mirziyoyev, exponent of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPU) and former Prime Minister of the country since 2003, took over his office, whose party established itself as the country’s leading political force in the legislative elections held in December 2019, in which it obtained 43 seats. In October 2021 Mirziyoyev was granted a second presidential term.

According to localcollegeexplorer, the change in the political situation in Moscow, towards the end of the 1980s, did not involve significant changes in the Uzbekistan even if greater freedom of expression made it possible to raise environmental issues publicly and to refer to the traditions of the country by claiming the use of the Uzbek language. A political movement, called Birlik (“Unity”), began to develop precisely on the themes of ecology and national identity, but was not admitted to the elections for the 1989 Congress of People’s Deputies of the Union. Uzbek was recognized in the same year as a language official of the republic; this concession to growing national sentiment was not accompanied by any democratic openness, however, and the Communist Party of Uzbekistan (PCU) faced the November 1990 elections for the Supreme Soviet of the Republic without opposition.

The new Supreme Soviet elected the secretary of the PCU, I. Karimov, to the presidency of the Republic and S. Mirsaidov to the presidency of the Council of Ministers. After the coup attempt in Moscow in August 1991, President Karimov, who had initially assumed an attitude of cautious waiting, promptly transformed into a sentence upon the news of the bankruptcy, got the Uzbekistan a position of strong autonomy: on 31 August the Supreme Soviet declared the independence of the country, while the PCU dissociated itself from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to change, in November 1991, its name to that of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDPU). The declaration of independence was followed by an attempt to forge links with neighboring Asian republics, together with the Uzbekistan he decided to join the CIS in December 1991. Immediately after his association with the CIS, the elections for the presidency of the Republic took place; the “ Unity ” movement was again barred from participating in the competition, but an independent candidate, M. Solikh, presented himself supported by a new opposition party, “ Libertà ”, and was also supported by ” Unity ”, obtaining 12% of the votes. In an electoral confrontation certainly not free from the suspicion of conditioning, Karimov obtained 86% of the votes and was confirmed as president of the Republic; on the same occasion, 98.2% of the voters expressed their support for the independence of Uzbekistan.

The new government did not promote any attempt to democratize the country, on the contrary it accentuated control over the press and severely limited freedom of expression and political organization. The formal recognition of multi-partyism and the promise of democratic elections was contrasted by an authoritarian practice of power and the repression of the political opposition and Islamic movements for the declared concern of avoiding the emergence of radical oppositions on an ethnic or religious basis and a situation of civil war like the one in neighboring Tajikistan. Concern for the spread of Islamic fundamentalism pushed the Uzbekistan to participate in the joint military force sent to Tajikistan by the CIS and to strengthen border controls.

During 1994 there was no government opening towards the opposition. Although Karimov had declared that all political parties could participate in the elections scheduled for the end of the year, in fact only the PDPU and its ally “ Progress of the Fatherland ” were allowed to register for the electoral competition which was held in two. shifts in December 1994 and January 1995. In a referendum in March 1995 it was decided to extend the term of Karimov’s presidential term from 1997 to 2000, in order to hold presidential elections at the same time as political ones.