How was the Referendum?

On the 30th of April, a Referendum was held in all regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan to adopt the new Constitution.  Voting commenced at 8:00 a.m. and continued until 20:00 p.m.  Throughout the day, QALAMPIR.UZ visited several polling stations and closely observed political processes.  We held the microphone to the voters and asked which clauses of the new Constitution they supported the most.  

Ozodbek Nazarbekov, People's Artist of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Karakalpakstan, Minister of Culture and Tourism, emphasized that he supports today's political processes due to the change in the President of Uzbekistan.  He stated that the current Constitution may not meet the demands of the many changes in the country, and thus the need for constitutional processes naturally arose.   

Bahadir Jalolov, the champion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, expressed his support for changes to the Constitution, believing that it would lead to growth in society.  A resident of Almazor district echoed this sentiment, saying that the adoption of the new Constitution would change their lives, especially in education and salary.  

Singer Ozoda Nursaidova, who was not indifferent to the process, recalled how she suffered due to the violation of her rights and shortcomings in the previous Constitution.  She believed that the new Constitution places human dignity first and supports it.  

Many pensioners who participated in the voting said that they liked the changes in the Constitution and supported the changes in education and medicine.

All polling stations were filled with voters early in the morning.  Even the families of the current and former Presidents of Uzbekistan participated in the Referendum.

The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, went to the 59th referendum precinct in the Mirzo Ulugbek district of Tashkent city and voted with his family members.  Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis Tanzila Norboyeva, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, Head of the Presidential Administration Sardor Umrzakov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Komil Allamjonov, and several famous people announced on their social media pages that they participated in the referendum.  Tatyana Karimova, also participated in the referendum with her youngest daughter's daughter.  

The new Constitution consists of 27 new articles, increasing the number of articles from 128 to 155.  The current 275 norms of the Constitution have increased to 434, updating the current Constitution by 65%.  

The Central Election Commission reported that as of 1:00 p.m. on the 30th April, 12,083,105 citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, or 62.24 percent of voters, voted on the adoption of the new Constitution. According to Article 38 of the Law on the Referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan, if at least half of the citizens included in the list of voters participated, the referendum will be deemed to have passed. The results will be announced today, 1st May by the Central Election Commission.