Skip to main content

Eurasianet

Main Menu

  • Regions
  • Topics
  • Media
  • About
  • Search
  • Newsletter
  • русский
  • Support us
X

Caucasus

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Central Asia

Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Conflict Zones

Abkhazia
Nagorno Karabakh
South Ossetia

Eastern Europe

Belarus
Moldova
Russia
The Baltics
Ukraine

Eurasian Fringe

Afghanistan
China
EU
Iran
Mongolia
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
X

Environment

Economy

Politics

Kazakhstan's Bloody January 2022
Kyrgyzstan 2020 unrest

Security

Society

American diplomats in Central Asia
Arts and Culture
Coronavirus
Student spotlight
X

Visual Stories

Podcast
Video

Blogs

Tamada Tales
The Bug Pit

Podcasts

EurasiaChat
Expert Opinions
The Central Asianist
X
You can search using keywords to narrow down the list.
Uzbekistan, Central Asia

Uzbekistan to hold constitution referendum in spring

An earlier mooted vote was derailed by political unrest.

Dec 22, 2022
Mirziyoyev may be eyeing a new term in office. (Photo: Presidential website) Mirziyoyev may be eyeing a new term in office. (Photo: Presidential website)

Uzbekistan is returning to the idea of amending the constitution by referendum and has picked the spring for the period in which to hold the vote, according to a report in the media.

RFE/RL’s Uzbek service, Radio Ozodlik, reported on December 21, citing government sources, that the ballot would be held after the Nowruz holiday, which marks the spring equinox. 

Observers from the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have been invited to monitor the vote, the sources told Ozodlik.

The most notable change envisioned in the amendments drafted earlier this year is one that will see presidential terms reset back to seven years, from the current five years. The expectation is that this will permit the incumbent, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to maintain his grip on power beyond his second permitted five-year term, which began in 2021.

It had been expected that a referendum might be held earlier this year, but that plan was derailed by the unrest sparked in the republic of Karakalpakstan in early July as a result of proposed constitutional reforms that would have seen the territory’s autonomy diluted. Following that bout of turbulence, Mirziyoyev moved quickly to remove amendments regarding Karakalpakstan.

There is speculation that the authorities might have acted earlier in invoking a referendum, but that they were nervous to do so in the midst of a winter energy crisis that has seen countless power outages and shortages of car fuel at the pump.

Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.

Related

Aeroflot poised to return to Kazakhstan despite legal risks
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan complete border delimitation process
Why Central Asian journalists hide their names

Popular

Azerbaijani embassy in Iran comes under deadly attack
Heydar Isayev
Aeroflot poised to return to Kazakhstan despite legal risks
Fight or flight: Tbilisi and Kyiv caught in another round of tensions
Nini Gabritchidze

Eurasianet

  • About
  • Team
  • Contribute
  • Republishing
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact
Eurasianet © 2023