The following four candidates were nominated by their respective parties in September. The CEC approved their applications in October. •
Shavkat Mirziyoyev,
Prime Minister of Uzbekistan and interim president;
Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan nominee •
Sarvar Otamuradov,
Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party nominee •
Narimon Umarov,
Justice Social Democratic Party nominee •
Khatamjon Ketmonov, People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan nominee It was widely expected that Mirziyoyev, who was Prime Minister, interim president and the leader of Uzbekistan's largest party, the Liberal Democratic Party, would win the election. During the campaign, Mirziyoyev promised to mostly continue Karimov's policies, although he also pledged to implement populist measures such as forcing state bureaucrats and local leaders to be more responsive to the people's concerns, and to establish a
hotline to the president. Mirziyoyev's platform primarily focused on economic issues, promising that he would double the
GDP by 2030. The other three nominees were from parties that were technically in opposition but have always supported the government's position. As in the
2015 presidential elections, the other candidates refrained from attacking other nominees and instead focused on their own pet topics. According to
EurasiaNet, Ketmonov focused on disabled rights, Umarov focused on education, while Otamuratov focused on promoting patriotism and nationalism. During the campaign, government-controlled media repeated the message that if the Karimov-era
autocracy ended, the only alternatives were political chaos or
Islamic extremism. Each candidate was allowed to erect 624 billboards across the country during the campaign, a decrease from the 829 billboards that had been allowed in the previous election. ==Conduct==