NEW CONSTITUTION, NEW ELECTIONS

The law on the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted by the April 30 referendum became effective on May 1. The updated Constitution has already been published on the website of the Uzbek Central Election Commission. More than 15 million of citizens, or 90.21% of voters supported the constitutional reforms, with over 1.5 million people, or 9.35% voting against it. More than 16.6 million people, or 84.54% of the total number of voters, took part in the referendum.

Significant changes

Uzbekistan's constitution was adopted in 1992 and has been amended several times since. In January 2002, the country held a referendum to increase the number of houses in the parliament to two and the presidential term. Now, after more than 20 years, it is necessary to implement a more serious and far-reaching constitutional reform. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced this during his inauguration speech in November 2021, indicating that the proposal came from the people of the country. The original plan was to adopt the amendments by the 30th anniversary of the constitution on December 8, 2022, but then it was decided not to hurry and finalise them. The work was completed in the spring of 2023.

Under the new amendments, the text of the constitution has been updated by 65%, with the number of articles increasing from 128 to 155 and the number of chapters from 26 to 27. In fact, the Uzbek parliament could have adopted the updated version of the document. However, due to the magnitude of amendments, it was decided to get the popular approval through a referendum, thereby making the constitution popular.

During parliamentary discussions, the Chairman of the Committee on Combating Corruption, Judicial and Legal Issues (one of the two committees responsible for drafting the bill on constitutional reform), MP Jahongir Shirinov, listed the upcoming changes. In particular, the "state-society-person" principle in the constitution has been changed to "person-society-state", thereby making the interests of individuals a priority. Uzbekistan is proclaimed a social state. The state's social obligations are nearly tripled. In particular, the needy categories of citizens will be provided with housing, while the minimum wage will be determined on the basis of a decent standard of living. It is envisaged that the citizens will have the rights to receive guaranteed medical care and so forth.

The constitution defines the right of talented young people to receive higher education by getting necessary grants from the state.

In addition, the number of senators is reduced from 100 to 65, while the powers of chairpersons in the Kengash (council) of people's deputies and hokims (heads of executive power) are separated. Previously, hokims also chaired the kengashs. The separation of powers will begin in Tashkent and the oblasts from 2024 (based on the results of elections to local councils), and in the districts and cities from January 1, 2026.

According to new democratic norms, the same person cannot be elected (appointed) to a certain position for more than two consecutive terms. These include the president of Uzbekistan, speaker of parliament, president of the Senate, chairmen of regional, district and city kengashs, hokims, chairman and deputy chairman of the Supreme Court, chairman and deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of Judges, chairman of the CEC, and the prosecutor general.

Experts are confident

Changing the constitution is a vital step in the transformation of Uzbekistan, says Uzbek political scientist Rustam Burnashev. "The current constitution was adopted to solve certain problems right after Uzbekistan gained independence. By and large, it reflected very idealised policies covering the whole process of state and nation-building. Therefore, it becomes necessary to adjust the documents in almost all of the post-Soviet states," Burnashev said.

He added that the amendment on direct constitutional influence will make the work with the document much simpler: "Instead of appealing to laws and by-laws at courts, citizens will be able to appeal to the constitution itself". The expert points to the restriction of the powers of law enforcement agencies, which increases the importance of courts during detention. For example, Article 27 now contains the following clause: "A person may not be detained for more than forty-eight hours without a court decision."

Another expert, Murat Bakhadirov, associate professor of international relations at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, emphasises the possibility of legislative initiative (Article 98). Thus, following the adoption of the updated constitution, citizens of Uzbekistan with the right to vote and numbering at least a hundred thousand can submit proposals to the lower house of parliament. At present, only the president, government, parliamentarians and a number of other bodies have this right.

Professor Mavluda Abdullayeva of the University of Public Security of Uzbekistan is confident that one of the main differences in the new version of the constitution is the development of Uzbekistan as a social state. The document formulates the social responsibility of the state as a whole and for individual groups of citizens. In Article 57, the state pledges to improve the quality of life of socially vulnerable categories of citizens.

Mavluda Abdullayeva also points out that the current version of the constitution does not contain the word "investments", while the economic block of the document has Article 67, which reads: "The state ensures a favourable investment and business climate". This wording reflects the government's strategic priorities in the national economy, with an intention to attract the attention of investors. Investment protection is reinforced by Article 68, which states that land may be privately owned.

High praise from observers

As expected, most international observers agree that the referendum in Uzbekistan was held in accordance with national laws and in a transparent and democratic environment.

For example, the heads of observation missions of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TürkPA) said that voting on the draft law on Uzbekistan's new constitution in the 30 April referendum complied with the country's national legislation and international norms.

According to Omer Kocaman, Deputy Secretary-General of OTS, the organisation's observation mission began its activities in Uzbekistan on April 28 and visited 25 polling stations on the election day. He said the referendum was professionally organised and that voting and counting were transparent. No major obstacles to the free expression of will were observed, Kocaman said. Nor were there any technical problems that could have affected the results of the vote.

TürkPA head of mission Recep Seker said that they had closely followed the voting process  from the opening of polling stations to the counting of votes. TürkPA representatives commended the CEC for its work in training lower-level commissions and ensuring the transparency of the referendum process.

The CIS mission also noted the high level of organisation of the referendum. "The April 30 referendum was organised at high level, in a free and open atmosphere in accordance with applicable laws," the CIS observer mission stated. "The organisers of the referendum gave citizens the opportunity to freely express their will," CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev said. "The preparation and conduct of the referendum was carried out in an orderly, clear and at a high level. We see significant positive changes in the organisation of elections," Lebedev said.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) mission made one of its traditional statements in the CIS, noting that the constitutional referendum in Uzbekistan was technically well prepared "but lacked pluralism". At the same time, it mentioned many positive aspects of the referendum. For example, observers noted that the CEC worked effectively within its remit. "The work of the CEC was organised in line with the relevant statutory acts. The CEC and its territorial and precinct commissions were provided with adequate resources, communication facilities, and other necessary equipment," said the preliminary report of the mission.

The report also states that the CEC met legal deadlines at every stage concerning the organisation and conduct of the referendum. There was also a strong effort to increase the involvement of persons with disabilities in the voting process. The Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions also suggests that the referendum was technically well prepared and aimed at strengthening citizens' rights and freedoms. According to the ODIHR, the consultation process on draft amendments was generally inclusive. It is underlined that the consultations as part of the constitutional review process were quite lengthy, with a significant number of proposals taken into account in the final draft.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) mission also recognised Uzbekistan's constitutional referendum as open, transparent and democratic. According to the organisation's secretary general, Zhang Ming, Uzbekistan has created all the conditions for the referendum to be held in accordance with the requirements of the national electoral legislation and international commitments.

Always together

During our visits to various polling stations in Tashkent, we saw how the representatives of ethnic minorities living in Uzbekistan were actively involved in the vote together with their Uzbek compatriots. Azerbaijanis were no exception.

"Azerbaijanis are always active in public life and are not indifferent to the future of the brotherly country," Mehriban Rahimova, head of the Mahalla Committee in the so-called railway workers' quarter of Tashkent. This is the second time she has been elected to the polling station committees. Azerbaijani journalists and observers visiting Uzbekistan always try to drop a visit to her polling station or simply visit the Mahalla railwaymen's committee.

"There are about 4,000 residents in our mahalla. 70%, or more than 2,400 of them are Azerbaijanis, citizens of Uzbekistan. Everyone in the mahalla is friendly to each other and generally lives in equality, as they say in Uzbekistan, 'tatu'. Regardless of our ethnic background, we share our joyful and sorrowful moments together by attending both celebrations and commemoration ceremonies of each other. We have a beautiful mahalla," says Mehriban-khanym and explains that the mahalla is called the railway workers' quarter because of its proximity to the railway.

Her ancestors are from Zangezur, which she had to leave at the beginning of the last century. She has relatives in Sheki, but was born in Uzbekistan. She says her "heart beats with Azerbaijan" and dreams of visiting the territories liberated from Armenian occupation, the land of her ancestors. At the same time, she proudly remembers her conversation with the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during his visit to Uzbekistan last year. During the visit, Mehriban-khanym was awarded the Friendship of Peoples Medal by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and has more than 60 honorary diplomas and letters of acknowledgement. That is how the Azerbaijanis of Uzbekistan live in peace and friendship, sharing the joy and sorrow of their Uzbek brothers and sisters.

An unexpected result

Many of us remember when, following the death of Islam Karimov, who had led the country since 1989, Mirziyoyev was elected as the new president of Uzbekistan in a snap election in December 2016. In October 2021, with 80.12 per cent of the vote, he won the election again and became the head of state for a five-year term.

Almost a week after the referendum, Mirziyoyev announced an early presidential elections. He signed a respective decree on holding the elections and shared this information with the leaders of the chambers of Uzbekistan's Oliy Majlis, parties, judiciary and executive power at a meeting on the results of the referendum held on May 8.

Mirziyoyev explained the reasons for his decision: "You may ask why it was necessary to adopt such a decision, or why I decided to give up the remaining three and a half years of my term in office. Firstly, all the branches of power are being reformed, with the relationship and balance between them being seriously altered in line with our constitution. Secondly, the updated constitution sets urgent and new political, social and economic challenges to the president, parliament, the government, ministers and hokims. Thirdly, our nation is waiting for extremely important and urgent changes and reforms in all spheres. Fourthly, in the current situation, under the ongoing dynamic and complicated processes taking place throughout the world and the region, the most urgent and important issue is the search and implementation of correct and efficient way of development."

Thus, the early presidential election in Uzbekistan is scheduled for July 9. We can only wish brotherly Uzbekistan good luck in the next stage of the country's development.