Last week the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, visited the eastern provinces of Namangan and Andijan. Both of the provinces are known as the most densely populated regions and have very conservative communities. Residents of these provinces have always been critical of the current government, thus constitute the most problematic regions of the republic for the ruling elite. Both of these regions have seen a number of clashes between the local government and residents. In addition, these regions have also seen a substantial rise of Islamism. For instance in December of 1991 while speaking in Namangan, Islam Karimov, surrounded by protesting demonstrators was forced to promise to make Uzbekistan an Islamic country. The latest of such confrontations occured in Andijan, which turned out to be the biggest tragedy in the contemporary history of the country.  Prior to these visits Islam Karimov made so-called ‘reconnaissance rallies’ in Karakalpakstan, Khorezm, Bukhara and Navoi provinces. These events impact the political climate in Uzbekistan considerably. The presidential elections are nearly six months away and as yet there had not been any official candidates registered or announced… until now.

The Uzbek President started all his rallies by meeting with representatives of local populations and farmers, and spoke about the need of raising living standards and prosperity levels in rural areas, bringing infrastructure to the villages, and striving to help local youths. Considering the fact that more than 60% of the Uzbek population lives in rural areas, appeasing this demographic is of utmost importance for any politician seriously considering the presidency. Islam Karimov is one who realizes this fact.

In all of the regions he visited the Uzbek president broke  tradition and did not summon extraordinary sessions of the provincial councils and did not remove any of the governors from their positions. At the same time however, unverified information made available on the internet claims that the governor of Bukhara province, Samoydin Husenov, the longest running governor was put under house arrest by the National Security Service shortly after the departure of Karimov. If this is true however, it could be because no meeting with the real electorate in Bukhara was organized and the president was forced to walk through the empty farmer markets.

National broadcasting channels in their turn also made sure to show images of the Uzbek president giving practical advice on new construction sites, and meeting young students from academic lyceums as well as farmers and religious leaders (at Nakshbandi complex).

All of these developments directly indicate the sign of a starting pre-election campaign by the current president. In the next months to come we can only expect more propaganda on TV, and perhaps even some populist measures which could range from economic to social reforms and privileges. It seems that from this news, speculation about the candidacy of the next president will have to be forgotten.