President of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the Head of State and executive authority in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The office of President was established in 1991 replacing the position of First secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan that has existed since 1925 while the country was known as Uzbek SSR

Uzbek SSR

The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924...

. The president is directly elected by the citizen of Uzbekistan who have reached eighteen years of age for seven years term.

Islam Karimov has been the only president of Uzbekistan since the establishment of the office and had won three elections in a row which many consider as no more than shams. The third election was the most controversial since he had been elected twice. The explanation given by him was that his first term in office was only five years following the old constitution.

Qualifications

The Constitution of Uzbekistan ruled that a presidential candidate must be at least thirty five years old, fluent in speaking the state language (Uzbek

Uzbek language

Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...

), and permanently residing for at least ten years on the territory of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

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On taking office, the President must take the following oath, stipulated by Article 92 of the constitution, at sitting of the Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan

Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan

The Supreme Assembly or National Assembly is the parliament of Uzbekistan.It succeeded the Supreme Soviet in 1995, was unicameral until 2005, but now has two chambers:*The Legislative Chamber*The Senate...

:

Electoral law

The constitution stated that the President shall be elected by citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the basis of the universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.

Role

The Constitution of Uzbekistan lays out the duties and powers of the President, which in detail are:

1. Guarantee observance of rights and freedoms of citizens, the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
2. Take necessary measures on the protection of sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan, implementation of decisions regarding its national-state structure;
3. Represent the Republic of Uzbekistan within the country and in international relations;
4. Conduct negotiations d sign treaties and agreements of the Republic of Uzbekistan, ensure the observance of the negotiated by the Republic treaties, agreements and the assumed by it obligations;
5. Receive letters of credence and recall from diplomatic and other representatives accredited to him;
6. Present to the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan nominees for appointment of an diplomatic and other representatives of the Republic of Uzbekistan to foreign states;
7. Present to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan annual reports on major matters of social and economic life, home and foreign policies of the country;
8. Form the office of executive authority and direct it; ensure interaction of the supreme bodies of authority and administration of the Republic; form and abolish ministries, state committees and other bodies of state administration with subsequent submission of decrees on these matters for approval by the chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
9. Represent to the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan a nominee for the election on the post of the Chairman of the Senate;
10. Represent for consideration and approval by the chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan a nominee of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan and relieve him of his post;
11. Approve, upon the nomination of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, members of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan and relieve them of their posts;
12. Appoint and relieve the Procurator-General of the Republic of Uzbekistan and his deputies of their posts with their subsequent approval by the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
13. Represent to the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan nominees on the posts of the Chairman and judges of the Constitutional Court, the Chairman and judges of the Supreme Court, the Chairman and judges of the Higher Economic Court, the Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Protection of Nature;
14. Appoint and relieve judges of regional, inter-district, district, city, martial and economic courts of their posts;
15. Appoint and relieve khokims of regions and the city of Tashkent of their posts with their subsequent approval by relevant Kenghashes of people’s deputies. The President shall have the right to relieve, by his decision, khokims of districts and cities of their posts, should they violate the Constitution, laws or perform acts discrediting the honour and dignity of a khokim;
16. Suspend and repeal acts passed by bodies of state administration, as well as khokims;
17. Sign and promulgate laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan; shall have the right to return a law, with his objections, to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the second discussion and vote;
18. Announce condition of war in case of attack on the Republic of Uzbekistan or in case of necessity of the implementation of contractual obligations on mutual defense from aggression and within seventy two hours submit the adopted decision for approval by the chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
19. In exceptional cases (real outside threat, mass disturbances, major catastrophes, natural calamities, epidemics) in the interests of ensuring citizens’ security introduce the state of emergency on the entire territory or in the particular localities of the Republic of Uzbekistan and within seventy two hours submit the adopted decision for approval by the chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Conditions and the procedure for introducing the state of emergency shall be regulated by law;
20. Serve as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan, appoint and relieve the supreme command of the Armed Forces of the post and confer the highest military ranks;
21. Award orders, medals and certificates of honour of the Republic of Uzbekistan, confer qualification and honorary titles of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
22. Rule on matters of citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan and granting political asylum;
23. Put to the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan submission on adoption of acts of amnesty and effectuate pardoning of persons condemned by courts of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
24. Form the National Security Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan, nominate and relieve the Chairman of the National Security Service of his post with the subsequent submission of decrees on these matters for approval by the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
25. Exercise other powers stipulated by the present Constitution and laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan.