Uzbekistan: A Purge is Underway

The acting governor of the Tashkent Region, Ziyavitdin Niyazov, three district heads and one mayor have been sacked for "grave shortcomings," the news website Gazeta.uz reported December 17.

Rustam Kholmatov, the former governor of the Quyichirchiq District, will now take over the post of regional governor, President Islam Karimov told a session of the council of people's deputies held on December 16.

Karimov lambasted the sacked officials for failing to oversee tenders for public works and to properly develop business and social structures in the region. He also accused them of embezzlement and illegal appropriation of state agricultural lands for private use.

"Unfortunately, the Tashkent Region is careless about farming. As in most cases, land is given not to professional farmers but to occasional people, who have nothing to do with farming and to those who think only about their own benefit. We should look for answers to these questions right here. The saddest thing is that land, which can feed all of us, is being embezzled," said Karimov.

"I would like to tell you one thing -- we will never forgive such people. You should learn this for yourselves. . . . If everyone starts embezzling it, how we will feed the population and on what can we live in the future?" he added.

Kholmatov, a 47-year-old economist, began his political career in 1995 as first deputy governor of Tashkent. He was appointed governor of Quyichirchiq in 2003.

He is the second new regional governor to be appointed in as many weeks. On December 12, Navoi governor Bahriddin Ruziev was dismissed and replaced by Erkinjon Turdimov.