In June of the following year, at a meeting with members of the constitutional commission, he expressed the idea of adopting amendments to the Constitution through a nationwide referendum. For more than a month, there was a popular discussion of important changes affecting every Uzbek and the country as a whole. Then the Legislative Chamber, summarizing the proposals, sent all the amendments for revision.
head of state urged, slowly, thoughtfully to study more than 220 thousand options and interpretations to improve the Basic Law. “We will make decisions based on the principle “Society is the initiator of reforms” and consulting on all issues with our people,” — he stressed.
On February 24 this year, two responsible committees of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (Parliament) returned to the discussion of the draft law on amendments to the Constitution. Already in early March, the president met with deputies and senators, as well as the leadership of the Supreme Court.
At the meeting, consultations were held following the consideration of proposals from the population. It was stated that the bill would be preliminary considered by the Constitutional Court. A feature of the situation is that 27 new articles are being introduced into the current constitution, the total number of articles increases from 128 to 155, and norms – from 275 to 434.
This means that, taking into account the amendments, the Basic Law of the Republic is updated by 65%. If earlier the title of the draft law referred to amendments to the Constitution, now we are talking about a new version of the Constitution of Uzbekistan, a referendum on which was scheduled for April 30. The country is proclaimed a social state. In particular, the Constitution plans to change the principle “state – society – person” to “person – society – state”, that is, “put the interests of the person above all else.”
Due to the fact that Uzbekistan is proclaimed a social state, the norms of social obligations are increased by almost 3 times. In particular, socially needy categories of citizens will be provided with housing; the minimum wage – to be determined taking into account the provision of decent living for a person; the rights of citizens to receive a guaranteed volume of medical care and much more will be secured.
The Constitution defines the right of young people to study at universities at the expense of the state on the basis of a grant, that is, the opportunity to receive higher education at the expense of the state will be “guaranteed to talented youth.” This means that state grants in higher education “will always be allocated quotas, and this procedure will never be abolished,” noted legislator Jahongir Shirinov.
In addition, the number of senators is planned to be reduced from the current 100 to 65 and to share the powers of the chairmen of the kengash (council) of people’s deputies and khokims (heads of districts, cities, regions).
A democratic norm is introduced that the same person cannot be elected (appointed) to a certain public position for more than two consecutive terms.
Ambiguities in the legislation arising from the interaction of a citizen with state bodies will be interpreted in favor of the citizen. For example, there are sometimes contradictory norms in tax legislation. Naturally, the tax authority wants to interpret such a discrepancy in favor of the state, and the citizen – in his favor. This guarantee, incorporated in the Constitution, puts an end to such disputes.
“The new draft of the Basic Law fully complies with all the normative acts of Uzbekistan and adopted international documents”, – said Chairman of the Constitutional Court Mirzo-Ulugbek Abdusalomov. He also said that there would be only one question on the ballot for the referendum about the project as a whole.
The deputies of the Oliy Majlis emphasize that during the preparation of the document they received more than 220,000 proposals from citizens who showed an active public position. “We took into account every fourth. That is why the new Constitution will become truly popular,” the press service of the parliament said in a statement. Most of the changes sound in the style of “for all the good, against all the bad.” Thus, the state will assume additional social obligations to combat poverty and reduce unemployment, and 2.2 million low-income families will receive financial support. The constitution will also enshrine the right of every Uzbek citizen to housing. Thanks to this, in the next 2-3 years, the authorities promise to resettle 200,000 families. Entrepreneurs are guaranteed fair taxation, journalists are guaranteed freedom of speech.
Legislators paid special attention to the protection of traditional values. It is emphasized that parents are obliged to support their children, and adult children – to take care of their parents.
President of the country Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his message to the people, he said that “we will make decisions based on the principle of “society is the initiator of reforms” and consulting our people on all issues,” the head of state emphasized. And most importantly, the majority of the population supports the current president’s course, because it is he who acts as a guarantor that the large-scale transformations he has begun will be brought to their logical end. Voting for the constitution, the citizens, in fact, reaffirmed the high level of trust in their President.
On the basis of the nationwide referendum held on April 30, the new edition of the Constitution of Uzbekistan came into force on May 1. The most important thing today is the implementation of the provisions of the updated Constitution. This was noted President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at a large-format meeting with the participation of all interested representatives of state bodies and the public to consider the results of the referendum.
May 8 this year The President signed two decrees. The first of them provides for the implementation of the provisions of the Constitution, the second – speaks of holding July 9 this year. early elections of the President of Uzbekistan.
In his speech to the participants of the meeting Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized that “The provision enshrined in the updated Constitution that Uzbekistan is a sovereign, democratic, legal, social and secular state is of historical significance. That “these five foundations” that determine the path of development and the fate of our country – said The president, – will never be changed.
Thus, all levels of power are being reformed in Uzbekistan, urgent, new political and socio-economic tasks, transformations and reforms in all spheres of the country’s life and civil society have been put forward.
