Islam A. Karimov, born in 1938, Uzbek politician and president of Uzbekistan (1990- ). Born in Samarqand, Karimov received degrees in mechanical engineering and economics. He worked as a mechanical engineer at a Toshkent aviation factory from 1960 to 1966, joining the Communist Party of Uzbekistan (CPU) in 1964. In 1966 he began a new career in economic planning with the Uzbek State Planning Commission. He served as minister of finance from 1983 to 1986. That year the government of Uzbekistan was engulfed in a corruption scandal involving embezzlement of cotton harvest funds. Although Karimov was not implicated in the scandal, he was assigned to a minor regional post. In 1989, however, his untarnished reputation helped him land the powerful post of first secretary of the CPU. He was indirectly elected president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) in 1990. After the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991, the newly independent republic of Uzbekistan held its first direct presidential elections, and Karimov was popularly elected to the post. He also became the head of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDPU), which formed as the successor to the banned CPU.

After the disintegration of the USSR, Karimov expanded Uzbekistan’s international trade while retaining tight domestic political control. In the first years of Uzbek independence, he traveled to numerous countries in Europe and Asia. He authorized a variety of joint ventures with foreign partners and supervised foreign purchases of cotton, the country’s leading export. However, he rejected a rapid pace of economic reform in Uzbekistan, and most sectors of the economy remained under state control.

Karimov consolidated his hold on power by extending government control over the mass media and by banning alternative groups and organizations, such as Birlik (Unity), a popular political movement that was formed during the last years of the USSR. Karimov particularly discouraged activities by religious and ethnic-based groups, the repression of which he considered vital to maintaining political stability in Uzbekistan. Members of the political opposition, especially extremist Muslim groups, were frequently assaulted and arrested. Although Karimov used a copy of the Qur’an (Koran), the holy book of the Islamic religion, when taking the presidential oath of office, he rigorously opposed attempts to transform Uzbekistan into an Islamic state.

Although the 1992 constitution of Uzbekistan specified a presidential term of five years and no more than two consecutive terms, Karimov managed to remain in power. Karimov’s first term of office was extended to the year 2000 by a referendum in March 1995. In January 2000 he was reelected to a second term. In a referendum held in 2002, voters approved extending the president’s term of office from five years to seven.