First modification:
The president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyeva, decreed a state of emergency in the province of Karakalpakstan and acknowledged this Sunday, July 3, that several people died during the strong protests this week against a series of amendments that aimed to limit the status of autonomy and right of secession held by the region. The large-scale demonstrations led the president to abandon the constitutional plans related to the province, but he maintains others.
The strong protests in the Uzbek province of Karakalpakstan would make the government back down from its attempts to remove the region’s right to sovereignty from the Constitution.
Amid the riots and clashes between the protesters and the authorities, the country’s president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, arrived in Karakalpakstan and announced that he will withdraw the proposed changes to the Constitution related to the autonomous status of that area of the country.
“Taking into account the unique ethnic and cultural characteristics, national traditions and values, the special legal status of the Republic of Karakalpakistan, I believe that it is necessary to leave unchanged articles 70, 71, 72, 74 and 75 of the Constitution on the legal status” of this region, said the head of state.
No Karakalpakstan-related change will be made to Uzbek constitution, confirms President Mirziyoyev, speaking in Nukus, autonomy’s admin center today. Mirziyoyev mentioned articles one by one and pledged to not take any action against the will of Karakalpak people. @president_uz pic.twitter.com/sihdse44P7
— Navbahor Imamova (@Navbahor) July 2, 2022
Thousands of people had taken to the streets to express their opposition to the proposed reforms and some even tried to storm local government buildings in the regional capital, Nukus.
The president acknowledged that several people died, although he did not specify a figure, and decreed a state of emergency for the province for a month, which will end on August 2.
The measure has been ordered “to ensure the safety of citizens, protect their rights and freedoms, restore law and public order on the territory of the Republic of Karakalpakistan,” confirmed presidential spokesman Sherzod Asadov.
Authorities have also restricted internet access in the territory for the past week.
Karakalpakstan, a peculiar sovereign region within a State
Under the current Constitution of Uzbekistan, Karakalpakstan is described as a sovereign republic within the nation, which has the right to secede by holding a referendum.
This is a unique case in the world. The researcher of Central Asia and international affairs, Fran Olmos, explains that since 1925 the population of Karakalpakstan, a Turkic ethnic group close to the Kazakhs, were granted an autonomous region within Kazakhstan, a country with a Muslim majority, currently with 35 millions of inhabitants.
In 1936, the province became a Soviet Socialist Republic within another country. And after the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1993 it was formally incorporated into Uzbekistan, always with the condition of holding a consultation for its total independence in 20 years, something that has not yet happened.
But that desire was threatened with the proposed new version of the Magna Carta made by the current Uzbek president, since some of the proposed modifications would have withdrawn the sovereign status of the area, as well as its right to separation.
This has turned out to be the biggest challenge for the Mirziyoyev government. However, beyond the changes in that region with the reforms to the Magna Carta, the ruler seeks to reintroduce seven-year mandates for the Presidency, compared to the current five.
This amendment is likely to benefit Mirziyoyev, who has portrayed himself as a “transformer” who wants to reverse some of the hard-line policies of his predecessor, Islam Karimov.
The remaining constitutional reforms are expected to be put to a national referendum in the coming months.
With AP and EFE
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