Voting began Sunday on the constitutional referendum in Uzbekistan, which aims to establish the foundations of a genuine social, democratic, legal and popular State.
Nineteen million and 722 thousand voters are eligible to vote in the referendum on the new Constitution out of a total population of 36 million.
Uzbek citizens flocked to polling stations estimated at 10,758, 55 of which are located in 39 foreign States.
In December 2021, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed constitutional amendments, including the declaration of Uzbekistan as a “socialist state” and the reduction of the number of senators from 100 to 65. The proposed amendments also include the extension of the presidential term from five to seven years.
The referendum is the third in the history of independent Uzbekistan. Mirziyoev’s predecessor, the country’s first President Islam Karimov, who died in 2016, held two referendums in 1995 and 2002. (QNA)
Source: Qatar News Agency