Uzbekistan accepts people's will to rewrite Constitution

People participate in the voting for Republic of Uzbekistan Referendum 2023 at a polling station set up inside School No. 86 in Yunusabad District of Tashkent, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan

Referendum 2023 held with over 300 international observers

By Ko Dong-hwan

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan ― On Sunday morning, people of various ages steadily entered and exited through the main entrance of School No. 86, a small elementary school in a residential neighborhood in Tashkent. The entrance led right into a hall where the visitors had their identities confirmed, received an A4-size blue ballot and voted at a booth. The ballot asked a single question: "Do you accept 'the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan' on the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan?"

After checking either "Yes" or "No," the voters aged 19 or older dropped the ballots through a slit on top of a cylindrical ballot container. A transparent proxy glass on the side of the container showed it still had a long way to go.

"So far about 300 people have come and voted," Tursumetova Feruza, in charge of the country's polling station No. 443 in the city's Yunusabad District, told The Korea Times, Sunday.

At one corner of the polling station, a female medical officer sat with a first aid kit in front of her, prepared in case of an emergency. She would remain there until the voting for the Republic of Uzbekistan Referendum 2023 ended at 8 p.m.

This ballot from a polling station at School No.86 in Tashkent for the Republic of Uzbekistan Referendum 2023 asks voters if they support the revised version of the country's Constitution. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan

The most populous Central Asian country bustled with local citizens that morning as they headed to schools, community centers, government offices and other public venues designated by the country's Central Election Commission (CEC) as a polling station for the mass event. Even incarcerated people and Uzbek ex-pats in other countries were able to vote as early as 8 a.m. that day. Those who could not vote on the day had a weeklong early voting period that had ended three days previously.

The atmosphere during the nationwide referendum voting seemed to be celebratory. Some locals posted reels on Instagram showing themselves casting their ballot with funny gestures and upbeat background music. Local TV broadcaster O'zbekiston 24 covered local polling stations and interviewed visitors and polling station officials, who looked cheerful and hopeful, rather than emotionally beaten down or disturbed.

Uzbekistan was committed to arranging the voting safely on the day. At press briefings at Symposium Palace in Tashkent, where over 100 journalists from across the world gathered, CEC Chairman Zayniddin Nizamkhodjaev said the central government meticulously prepared the event for the citizens inside and outside the country. Over 307,000 Uzbeks in foreign referendum precincts including Vladivostok, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore have been included in the eligible voters list.

Representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs and internal affairs said the referendum day was being heavily guarded by a freshly mobilized police force and national guard and monitored by security cameras and hundreds of international and local observers invited by the Uzbek government.

Two hours before the voting ended, over 16 million citizens of Uzbekistan had cast their ballots ― over 81 percent of all registered voters ― according to Bakhrom Kuchkarov, Deputy Chairman of the CEC, during a press briefing. On Monday, the CEC announced, following votes count, that the new Constitution was approved by 90.21 percent of the voters, with over 84 percent voter turnout.

Kuchkarov Bakhrom Tulkinovich, deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan, speaks during a press briefing at the Symposium Palace in Tashkent, Sunday. Courtesy of Press Center of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan

New chapter for Uzbekistan

Updating the Constitution, according to the Uzbek government, meant "a huge step towards building a just society." To strengthen the rights of various groups of citizens, from children to seniors with limited economic means, the referendum has been designed by the government to be completely citizen-oriented from its onset to raise the quality of their living.

At first, more than 60,000 proposals were made by the citizens for the draft Constitution. One in four of them passed the initial screening. Then, the draft was put to public discussion among 5 million Uzbek citizens via mass media and the internet. More than 150,000 suggestions and comments followed.

With participation by the country's labor unions, universities, local activists and intellectuals, the new Constitution, according to the government, took into account the interests of all levels of society.

"The whole society is united around the idea of building a new Uzbekistan," a dossier the Uzbek Embassy in Seoul shared with The Korea Times read. "Our General Assembly is literally becoming the people's Constitution."

The number of articles in the draft Constitution increased from 128 to 155, while the number of norms increased from 275 to 434, according to the government. The figures reflect the expansion of the Constitution's legal ground to cater to diverse groups of citizens in a more specific and practical manner.

Journalists from across the world talk at the press center for the Republic of Uzbekistan Referendum 2023 at Symposium Palace in Tashkent, Sunday. Over 300 international observers gathered in Tashkent for the event. Courtesy of Press Center of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan

"Our population is expected to reach 50 million by 2040 and more than half of them will be of young generations," Alimov Nqsimjon Khohimovich, who is head of the country's ruling Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party's Political Research Department, told The Korea Times. "To better cater to the rising young generations, we need to improve the current Constitution."

The party was one of the country's initiating forces behind the new Constitution, with its direction mostly geared toward improving the country's human rights.

"The new Constitution will democratically strengthen the country, particularly in terms of education and social welfare," the politician said. "Higher education will be reformed almost entirely to drive the country's innovative technologies. Housings, pensions and the country's senior citizens will be paid more attention to."

Major updates to the Constitution include the rights for every Uzbek citizen to have a home, free medical service, fair wages, employment and confidentiality in emails and other forms of private correspondence. No one should be detained for more than 48 hours and forcibly expelled or extradited to another country, the new Constitution states.

Children's rights have also been boosted, enforcing parents' care for them until adulthood. Children with disabilities should receive fair education on par with their peers. More state funds should be used for higher education institutions, while the independence of professors and teachers should be ensured, according to the updated Constitution. The state should also organize professional training opportunities for citizens.