Former Soviet nations of Central Asia pursue the effort to set up autocratic rule. Uzbekistan, from 2021, has openly rejected democratic norms, as it focused on the ex-President Islam Karimov’s legacy with strong support for autocracy, eager to secure Vladimir Putin’s favor, as Tashkent believes him to be more attractive partner than China.
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has called a snap presidential election on July 9, scheduled immediately after the presidency terms are zeroed out.
With less than two years in office within the current five-year term, President Mirziyoyev claims he needs a new mandate to carry out further reforms. Mirziyoyev explains the voting is essential to choose correct and effective path for Uzbekistan’s development, but the situation looks like time manipulation.
Under the current legislation, the voting date should be determined no less than two months prior to the election. With 35 million people living in Uzbekistan, Mirziyoyev has no staunch political opponents for replacing him in the elections, as Mirziyoyev himself took over as president right after the death of Islam Karimov, who has been in power since 1989. Mirziyoyev was re-elected as President in 2021.
Uzbekistan planned to hold referendum back in 2022, but representatives of Karakalpak people railed against limited autonomy rights and loss of the right to secede from Uzbekistan, thwarting the government plan.
The decision by President Mirziyoyev reflects the impact of legal environment change following the referendum. Amendments to the Constitution formally mean a new Constitution should be adopted. It outlines conceptually new environment for the functioning of the president, parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers, local executive and representative authorities.
The president, de jure, will have to win once again the people’s mandate to implement the new scope of authority, as the revised Constitution rebuilds the whole state administration system.
The state agenda in new reality should allegedly give all political forces the opportunity to compete for power to convince the voters their program is successfully running. With Mirziyoyev taking risk of re-election, Tashkent supposedly is not going to hold open elections and the president is sure of victory. Thе true objective is to extend the term of office, as Mirziyoyev has already got full power, built the vertical and is sure enough to hold autocratic-type election to stay in power. That way, the Constitution was amended just to zero out presidency terms, using Putin’s scheme. Mirziyoyev also extends his term of office from 5 to 7 years, when re-elected. Thus, he will be able to serve as president for another 14 years, until he is 79. Changing the electoral system for majority-proportional also speaks for an attempt to preserve and extend power. Uzbekistan currently has proportional electoral system, with voting on party lists. With majoritarian system added, it means the president seeks to increase the number of parliamentarians under control.
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