Communist Party of Uzbekistan in the context of "Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic"

Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov (30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was an Uzbekistani politician who served as the first president of Uzbekistan, from the country's independence in 1991 until his death in 2016. He was the last First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1989 to 1991, when the party was reconstituted as the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O‘zXDP); he led the O‘zXDP until 1996. He was the President of the Uzbek SSR from 24 March 1990 until he declared the independence of Uzbekistan on 1 September 1991.

He declared Uzbekistan as an independent nation on 31 August 1991. He subsequently won the presidential election on 30 December 1991, with 86% of the vote. Foreign observers and the opposition cited voting irregularities, alleging state-run propaganda and a falsified vote count. Karimov's first presidential term was extended to 2000 by way of a referendum, and he was re-elected in 2000, 2007 and 2015, each time receiving over 90% of the vote. He died from a stroke on 2 September 2016, after being president of the country for 25 years.

The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (UzSSR), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Uzbek branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the legal political party, from 1925 until 1990. From 1990 to 1991, it was a sovereign part of the Soviet Union with its own legislation.

Beginning 20 June 1990, the Uzbek SSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty within its borders. Islam Karimov became the republic's inaugural president.