Asked how he saw the future of the country, the candidate had the following to say: "The country, of course, has a very great future. And we have every reason to say this. Over the years of independence, reforms have been carried out in all areas of the country’s life - the economy, politics, the legal and moral education spheres - in a consistent way. The path to greater democratization and modernization and lifting the nation’s economy and, of course, further strengthening social security for the people will certainly lead us to the goals we seek."

"Because of the economic reform under way, our economic situation is improving. This gives us an opportunity to set aside more than half of the state budget for social spending. The standard of living of pensioners or vulnerable groups, for example, is increasing constantly," Rustamov said at one point as he answered a question.

"The current reforms are absolutely right and must be continued," he said. "Economic development is being pursued through special programmes in agriculture and industry, decrees and resolutions are being adopted, supported by laws. If [the reforms] are consistently continued in the current market economy situation [changes tack] we have peace, stability and interethnic accord in the country today. The objectives and tasks are all correct. If we follow this course, we will of course have very strong economic foundations," he said, supporting incumbent President Islom Karimov’s policies.

The question and answer session lasted for about 13 minutes and was immediately followed by election adverts for the other three candidates including the incumbent president, Islam Karimov. The same programme was rebroadcast on the television’s second channel as soon as it ended on the first channel.

Source: BBC Monitoring Central Asia