Longtime Uzbek leader Karimov wins presidential election by landslide

FILE - In this Saturday, March 21, 2015 file photo, Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov greets people during the festivities marking the Navruz holiday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan's election commission said more than 70 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by midway through Sunday's presidential election, where victory by longtime leader Islam Karimov is a foregone conclusion. (AP Photo/File) (The Associated Press)

MOSCOW – Election authorities in the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan say incumbent leader Islam Karimov has won Sunday's presidential election, as expected.

Russian news agencies on Monday quoted the Uzbek Central Election Commission saying that Karimov had garnered a 90.4 percent of the vote as nearly 91 percent of the vote counted.

The 77-year-old Karimov has led the former Soviet republic since 1990 and ruthlessly quashed all opposition to his rule. His victory was largely seen as a foregone conclusion.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in a statement issued on Monday criticized the vote as lacking "genuine political alternatives." The OSCE also noted that Karimov was allowed to run despite the constitutional limit of two consecutive presidential terms.