The Central Asian country is preparing to vote in a referendum on constitutional reform. The new bill would rewrite 65% of the existing one
Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president of the Central Asian country of 35m, presents the proposed overhaul as the latest item in a reform agenda he has pursued since coming to power in 2016, after the death of his tyrannical predecessor, Islam Karimov. Mr Mirziyoyev has freed political prisoners, relaxed media controls, promoted market reforms and ended forced labour in Uzbekistan’s vast cotton fields.
The draft constitution includes guarantees on gender equality. Signalling a big change in patriarchal Uzbekistan, these would follow the recent adoption of a law criminalising domestic violence. The draft also recognises the rights of prisoners and defendants in a country that previously jailed and tortured dissidents on an industrial scale. Arresting officers would be obliged to read detainees their rights.
This is just the sort of constitutional trickery used by Mr Mirziyoyev’s predecessor to rule for 25 years. A recent media crackdown also recalls Mr Karimov’s time. Social-media users have been under pressure to delete posts critical of the new constitution. Mr Mirziyoyev said recently that he was committed to the “spirit of freedom” for the media, but that promises to be somewhat short of the real thing.