Uzbek President Set for Return to Power in March Polls

Veteran Uzbek President Islam Karimov looked certain to prolong his 25-year grip on power after he was nominated Thursday to stand in March polls.

The Liberal Democratic Party put forward Karimov, 76, for the March 29 presidential election in the Central Asian nation during a meeting of its political council.

"The meeting's participants, based on the will of the voters and the electorate, unanimously supported the nomination of Islam Karimov's candidacy," the party said in a statement.

Karimov has ruled the nation of 30 million since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

So far the only challenger to the incumbent is a little-known former teacher of Russian, Hotamjon Ketmonov, who was nominated to represent the People's Democratic Party.

All four of the parties in Uzbekistan's parliament support Karimov's rule.