Uzbek parliament appoints PM Mirziyoyev as interim president

Uzbekistan's parliament appointed Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev as interim president on Thursday, Reuters  writes.
President Islam Karimov, who had ruled Central Asia's most populous nation for 27 years, died of a stroke last week aged 78.

Under the Uzbek constitution, a presidential election must now be held within three months.

According to the source, by appointing Mirziyoyev, 59, as acting head of state, the legislature leapfrogged Senate Chairman Nigmatilla Yuldashev, who under the constitution should have led the country during the transition period as acting president after Karimov's death. But Yuldashev, a little-known figure, had declined the role saying he lacked experience.