In the run-up to the New Year, many in Uzbekistan were wondering whether their new president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, would appear on television to deliver seasonal greetings.



Over the 25 years of independence for which he was in charge, the late Islam Karimov eschewed the custom, adopted by most leaders of post-Soviet states. Instead, Uzbek television viewers received their official declarations of seasonal cheer from newsreaders. Indeed, it has been customary for many to turn instead for words ushering in the New Year from Russian television and President Vladimir Putin.



Defying the predictions of naysayers, Mirziyoyev duly appeared on television at 23:45 on New Year’s Eve against a backdrop showing the Uzbek Senate building. First he spoke in Russian and then in Uzbek to congratulate his countrymen on the arrival of 2017.



In his brief speech, Mirziyoyev recalled what he described as a time of hardship — a reference to Karimov’s death — and called on Uzbeks to pool their efforts in future in the interests of achieving prosperity.



“We have declared 2017 the year of dialog with the people and people’s interests. Upon this we are basing a hugely important principle: The interests of the people prevail over everything else. I am sure that all of us, our leadership first and foremost, will unite our efforts and pool our potential to carry out the tasks lying before us in the coming year,” he said.



Judging by the reaction online, the address seems to have gone down well.



“This address is a show of respect to the people. It was unexpected and pleasant,” well-known TV journalist Elmira Tukhvatullina wrote on her Facebook account.



Tashkent native Dimitry Lavrov wrote on Facebook that the order of the languages in which Mirziyoyev spoke were of secondary importance and that the public would be impressed by what he termed “striking and positive changes in the political and public life of Uzbekistan.”



“I cannot ever remember the president personally congratulating the people. I think if the president continues with these policies, then they will carry him on their shoulders,” Lavrov wrote.



While these evaluations might be a little overblown, Mirziyoyev continues unabashedly to plough his own furrow by casting himself in a vastly more accessible light than his predecessor. The extent to which such public relations stunts genuinely reflect desire for openness on the part of Mirziyoyev and his entourage will take some time to understand fully, however.



As for Karimov’s dislike of New Year greetings, France-based Uzbek political analyst Kamoliddin Rabimov said that this stemmed from the late president’s distaste for imitating the customs of Soviet leaders. 



“Karimov was an intensely conservative man and believed that under the conditions of independence there was no need to preserve Soviet traditions of greeting the people on New Years Eve. For Karimov, the main holidays were independence day on September 1 and Nowruz, the spring festivity observed by Muslims,” Rabimov told EurasiaNet.org.