Alisher Ilkhamov

25 April 2023

On April 30 this year, a referendum will be held in Uzbekistan to approve its new constitution. The main motive behind this initiative is to nullify Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s first two presidential terms and let him run the next two terms, this time for 14 years, as a single presidential term is increased by the new constitution from 5 to 7 years. Apart from this, some changes in the constitution increase the degree of autocracy and undermine the principle of separation of powers in Uzbekistan, allowing the president to usurp a number of key powers that were assigned by the previous constitution to the parliament.