2nd LD Writethru: Incumbent Uzbek president wins majority of votes in election: preliminary results

Preliminary results showed that incumbent Uzbek President Islam Karimov has won over 90 percent of the votes in the country's presidential election, the Uzbek central election commission announced on Monday.

The commission said the preliminary tally indicates that Karimov has won over 17 million votes, but final results will be announced in 10 days.

According to the Uzbek law, a presidential candidate needs over 50 percent of the valid votes to become a president.

The presidential election was held on Sunday, with a voter turnout at over 91 percent, far exceeding the legitimate minimum of 33 percent.

Mirzoulugbek Abdusalomov, chief of the central election commission, said the voters' active participation shows that the Uzbek people's interest in the country's political affairs is growing.

About 300 observers from 43 countries monitored the election, along with five international organizations including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Over 9,000 polling stations were set up for over 20 million registered voters in all the 14 administrative districts of Uzbekistan, as well as in foreign countries.

Karimov has been the leader of the Central Asian nation for over two decades, since before the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

The newly-elected president will serve a five-year term, according to a 2011 constitutional amendment which shortens the presidential tenure from seven years. Endi