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Almaty / AFP
Uzbekistan’s acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has carried out his first reshuffle, the authorities said Wednesday, in a sign of his growing authority following the death of long-reigning strongman Islam Karimov.
Mirziyoyev was boosted from prime minister to acting leader of the Central Asian nation last week after Karimov died aged 78, following 27 years of ruthless domination with no clear successor lined up.
Mirziyoyev, 58, appointed a new deputy prime minister Abdulla Aripov to oversee culture and telecommunications in the ex-Soviet country and also replaced the higher education minister, the government said in a statement.First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov, once viewed as a potential successor to Karimov, retained his position in the minor reshuffle and expanded his brief to include education and science. Mirziyoyev — a long-time ally of Karimov’s who is viewed as a tough-guy enforcer — is widely expected to cement his grip on power at elections scheduled for December 4. The strategic location of landlocked Uzbekistan next to Afghanistan has seen its leadership courted by both ex-Soviet master Moscow and the West, but Karimov kept the two sides at arms length. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Mirziyoyev after flying in to pay his respects at the late strongman’s grave, but the new Uzbek stand-in leader later ruled out entering into any military alliances.