The constitutional referendum in Uzbekistan has been declared valid. 62.24% voted for the amendments to the country’s basic law, said on Saturday, April 30, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the republic Bakhrom Kuchkarov.
“According to the electronic system that records voter turnout, at 13:00 (11:00 Moscow time – Ed.), 12,083,105 voters, or 62.24% of the total list, came to the polling stations. The referendum can be considered valid,” Kuchkarov told reporters.
In accordance with the legislation of the country, a decision is recognized as adopted if it is supported by more than 50% of the voters included in the voting lists.
A day earlier, the head of the CEC of Uzbekistan, Zainiddin Nizamkhojaev, said that 19,722,809 people who have the right to vote, that is, more than half of the citizens, were included in the unified electronic list of voters – the country’s population is 36.2 million people. In addition, he said that the referendum would be the first to use a biometric identification system.
Public order during the referendum is provided by over 30 thousand employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard of the Republic. 383 observers from 45 countries and 11 international organizations, as well as about 44,000 local observers, work at the polling stations. Serious violations that impede the expression of the will of citizens have not yet been registered.
A referendum on the draft law on the Constitution of the country in a new edition is held in Uzbekistan on April 30. The corresponding decision was approved in mid-March by the Senate (upper house of parliament) of Uzbekistan.
In total, 27 articles are planned to be introduced into the new edition of the country’s basic law. Among the main amendments are the extension of the presidential term from five to seven years, the reduction in the number of senators from 100 to 65, the ban on the death penalty and the extradition of a citizen of the country to a foreign state.
The current Constitution of Uzbekistan was adopted in 1992. During this time, amendments were made to it 15 times.
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