Uzbeks Vote for Historic Referendum With Landslide Turnout

TEHRAN (Iran News) According to the Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan, the country of some 36 million people has about 19.72 million registered voters and according to the latest report from the Constituencies more than 81% have voted for the referendum which is a landslide presence for elections in this Central Asian states. The delay for announcing the final figures was because of some constituencies abroad as well as some technical problems in some inside constituencies.
Polls were conducted in 55 places overseas while in Uzbekistan it involves 10,758 centers.
Those 18 and above were eligible to cast their votes answering a simple question of “Do you accept the constitutional law regarding the constitution of the Uzbekistan Republic, with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
Around 500 foreign guests including as well as foreign journalists were in Uzbekistan for the coverage of this historic referendum.
In the historic city of Samarkand, Head of Commission of 7th Samarkand referendum district Farmon Toshev told media that the referendum will enhance the reputation of Uzbekistan in the eyes of world.
“The purpose of the referendum is to enhance the quality of life of the Uzbek people. It united the whole nation,” he added.
The draft constitution for the referendum touches on various aspects of the Islamic country such as women empowerment, youth rights, health and education.
Dilfuza Khalikova, a referendum official at the 147th referendum district in Samarkand city said some people had started arriving as early as 7.30 am to vote, reflecting their eagerness to participate in the referendum.
More than 200 amendments and additions to 64 Articles of the country’s constitution is being proposed. There was a nationwide discussion held about the proposed amendments with more than 220,000 proposals received from the people.
In the preparation of the draft constitution, foreign experiences – the constitutions of 190 countries including Malaysia were taken into consideration.
The people-centric referendum is also taking into consideration the aspirations of the younger generation as the country’s population is expected to reach 50 million by 2040, with more than half of them being young people, thus in order to provide them the conducive environment, among others a stable economy and social guarantees are necessary, as stated in the draft constitution.
One key aspect of the draft constitution touching on human rights, stated that “ensuring the human and civil rights and freedom is the highest goal of the state”.
Majority of the eligible voters had cast their votes before preparing this report and the election council was expected to announce the full results in at most 10 hours after the end of the election.
The referendum on the amendments to the constitution is part of various broad reforms being implemented by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev since becoming interim President in September 2016, elected in an open election with huge majority in the 2016 presidential election, following the death of Uzbekistan’s long-time leader Islam Karimov.