New Uzbekistan Aims to Adopt a New Democratic Constitution

TEHRAN (Iran News) At the beginning of the meeting, Shavkat Mirziyoyev answered questions about why a constitutional reform is needed right now and what it will give to an ordinary person.

Answering the first question, the president, “as a member of the commission who participated in the adoption of our current Basic Law,” agreed that the Constitution of Uzbekistan fully meets the best foreign experience and international standards and requirements. “There is no doubt about that.”

“The Constitution of Uzbekistan remains a solid foundation for all our achievements over the years of independence,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

At the same time, “the current dangerous time, the difficult situation around us requires that we treat the fate of our Motherland with even greater responsibility and make urgent strategic decisions.”

The President stressed that the worldview of the people of Uzbekistan has changed a lot in the six years since the change of the country’s leadership.

“The updated Constitution should create a solid legal basis and a reliable guarantee of long-term development strategies of our country, as a whole, its future prosperity and prosperous life of our people. In a word, having deeply introduced into the content of our Constitution the idea of “In the name of human honor and dignity” and the “Person – society – state” approach, which is the main principle of our current reforms, we need to turn them into the main value of our daily life. In other words, human dignity, honor and pride should now be in the first place in all spheres”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

In his speech, the President focused on four priority areas and made proposals for each of them.

The person, his life, freedom and dignity, inviolable rights and interests are indicated as the first direction.

“The elevation of human dignity should be a constitutional duty and a priority task of state authorities. These principles should be reflected in our updated Constitution, find their perfect legal solution”, the President said.

Emphasizing that the right to life is an inalienable right of every person, it is proposed to introduce a provision in the Constitution that “the death penalty is prohibited in Uzbekistan”.

It was noted that it is necessary to state in the Basic Law that a person’s criminal record and the legal consequences arising from it cannot be grounds for restricting the rights of his relatives.

Issues of strengthening the constitutional foundations of humane treatment of persons deprived of liberty were also considered.

While considering cases of administrative, civil, economic, criminal liability and other areas, the measures of legal influence applied to a person should be sufficient to achieve a legitimate goal and, if possible, not burdensome for a person, the Head of the state noted.

In the second direction, it was proposed to consolidate the idea of “Uzbekistan – a social state” in the Constitution.

As is known, decent living conditions are created in a social state for everyone, no one is left without attention, one on one with their problems. Therefore, it is proposed to reflect in the Basic Law the obligations of the state to provide housing for the population, strengthen the economic and spiritual foundations of the family, create all conditions for ensuring the interests and full development of children, support people with disabilities, and protect human health and environment.

“In a word, the state’s concern for men and women, families and children, youth and the elderly, persons with disabilities, all people, whether in the country or abroad, should be enshrined in the Constitution”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

The third direction is to clearly define in the Constitution the status of mahalla and the responsibilities of state bodies in the process of interacting with it. At the same time, it was proposed to reflect the principle that the mahalla is not part of the system of state authorities, can independently resolve issues of local significance, receive support from the state for these purposes.

The fourth direction is the improvement of public administration, strengthening democracy.

“We are aimed at building a democratic state that lives by the concerns of the people. This means that the state, its bodies and officials work for the people, serve them. Public control over state power will be established. I propose to introduce norms into the Constitution that ensure openness, transparency and accountability in the activities of state bodies, as well as the compactness and economy of these bodies”, the President said.

Thus, proposals have been put forward to expand the powers of the Oliy Majlis to form a government and ensure its effective functioning, transferring part of the powers of the President to the Oliy Majlis.

It was emphasized that it is time to exclude from the Constitution the provision that the hokims simultaneously head the councils of people’s deputies.

The Head of the state proposed to introduce the institution of making legislative proposals into the Constitution. Thanks to this rule, people will have the right to initiate laws. According to this provision, a group of at least 100 thousand citizens will be able to submit their legislative proposals to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.

The need for expanding the powers of the Government and defining in the Constitution the responsibilities of the Cabinet of Ministers and hokimiyats on ecology, youth, family support, social protection of persons with disabilities, development of public transport, creation of conditions for people’s recreation, support of civil society institutions was also emphasized.

The importance of updating and improving the conceptual and legal framework of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy, taking into account the cardinal changes taking place in the world, was also noted.

The proposals summarized by the Constitutional Commission will be submitted in the future as a legislative initiative to the Lower House of Parliament by deputies of the Legislative Chamber. They will be discussed in detail in the Parliament, which will prepare a draft of the updated Constitution. According to the current legislation, the Parliament has the authority to independently introduce amendments to the Constitution. However, the President proposed to consider the draft Constitution at a national discussion and adopt it by referendum.

“If we carry out constitutional reform based on the opinions and support of our citizens, through a referendum, it will be a real expression of the will of our people – a truly people’s Constitution”, the Head of the state said.

In this regard, the President called on compatriots to take a more active part in the process of constitutional reform.

“Our main goal is to ensure stability in society and the progressive development of our unique country! I call on all our people to unity and cohesion in achieving this great goal”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

An open exchange of views took place at the meeting. The members of the Constitutional Commission expressed their opinions on the proposals of the population and the need for reforms.