December 24, 2007	Monday	Zilhaj 13, 1428

TASHKENT, Dec 23: Uzbekistan voted on Sunday in an election where hardline President Islam Karimov faced only token opposition in his bid for a fresh seven-year term at the head of the isolated Central Asian state.

Victory for Karimov was seen as a foregone conclusion in a country with no independent media or opposition parties.

The 69-year-old, best known in the outside world for a bloody 2005 crackdown on unrest in the eastern city of Andijan, barely campaigned, while his three nominal challengers were virtual unknowns.

After voting in the capital Tashkent's polling station number 644, Karimov said Uzbekistan “is a state of democratic laws,” reported pro-government news site www.press-uz.info.

But many in this ex-Soviet republic of 28 million people can barely imagine an alternative to Karimov, who won 91 per cent of the vote in his last election in 2000.

“We already know the result so it doesn't matter who we vote for,” said Shafoat, a 21-year-old nurse at a polling station in Tashkent.

The Central Election Commission reported an enormous turnout, reaching 78.9 per cent of the 16 million eligible voters six hours before polls closed at 8:00 pm (1500 GMT). A 33 per cent turnout was required to validate the election.

The commision said that no fraud claims had been reported. However, only a handful of independent election observers were present and few foreign journalists were given permission to enter the country.

AFP reporters in Tashkent witnessed several cases of violations, including a man who voted three times. Polling station officials were seen accompanying elderly people into voting booths, while men said they were voting for their entire families.

Three to four police offices patrolled each polling station visited in Tashkent.

Preliminary results from the election are to be announced at 1300 GMT Monday, the Central Election Commission said.—AFP