New Uzbekistan in the making as nation endorses constitutional reform
The people of Uzbekistan approved the amendments in the Constitution in a reform held on Sunday.
Uzbeks cast their ballots to show the green light for reshaping the Central Asian country into New Uzbekistan, where, according to the Central Election Commission, the referendum was passed with over 90% of the vote.
The total number of voters exceeded 19.7 million, as over 16.67 million registered voters used their right of freedom of expression in the historical phase of the transformation of the country (84.54% of entire voters). 90.21% of the people voted “YES,” giving their approval to the revised
Constitution.
Uzbeks attended the event in more than 10,700 polling stations across the country, while 55 stations were established at diplomatic and other representative offices in 39 foreign countries.
Over 380 international observers, including 184 from 14 international organizations and 199 from 45 countries, directly monitored the referendum. Iranian Chairman of the Iran-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Friendship Group Gholamreza Nouri-Qezeljeh was in Tashkent to observe the polling.
On March 10, the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan, the lower house of parliament, adopted the law “on new regulations in the Uzbekistan constitution,” after which the Senate approved the draft Constitution and that the new regulations and amendments to be placed to a public vote.
The number of articles in the updated Constitution has increased from 128 to 155, and the number of norms has increased from 275 to 434. International experience was also considered, involving leading specialists and experts from a variety of fields.
The new Constitution aims to establish a strong parliament, a compact and responsible government, and an independent and fair judicial system.