Shavkat Mirziyoyev scores landslide victory in Uzbekistan's presidential election

Uzbekistan's Prime Minister and interim President Shavkat Mirziyoyev leaves a voting booth at a polling station during a presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, December 4, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan's prime minister, has scored a landslide victory in the first presidential election held after the death of long-time leader Islam Karimov.

According to the election results emerged on Monday, Mirziyoyev garnered 88.6 percent of the vote, overwhelmingly winning a tightly-controlled presidential election in the Central Asian country.

The Uzbek Electoral Commission said the interim leader collected 15.9 million votes in competition with three rivals -- Hotamjon Ketmonov, Narimon Umarov, and Sarvar Otamuratov.

"This shows that we are going along the path outlined by late President (Islam Karimov)," Mirziyoyev said after the results were announced.

Mirziyoyev, 59, served as the prime minister of Uzbekistan from 2003 under Karimov, whose death on September 2 led to his appointment as interim president by the Supreme Assembly.

Karimov had been at the helm of the ex-Soviet country since 1989 until he died of a stroke at the age of 78.

Late Uzbek President Islam Kaimov (Photo by AFP)

Karimov’s death sparked fears of a power struggle but the country’s powerful clans all supported Mirziyoyev who was also the ruling party's candidate.

Following Mirziyoyev's victory in the presidential election, Russian President Vladimir Putin "warmly congratulated" Karimov's successor in a phone call and invited him to visit Russia, according to a statement by the Kremlin.

Uzbekistan is a landlocked country, with Kazakhstan to the north, Tajikistan to the southeast, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest. It has a population of about 32 million and its economy relies mainly on the production of cotton, gold, uranium, and natural gas.