TASHKENT: Uzbekistan votes on constitutional amendments on Sunday that promise its citizens greater social protections in exchange for resetting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s term count to zero, which could allow him to stay in power until 2040.
Mirziyoyev, 65, has been praised at home and abroad as a liberal reformer for abandoning the previous leadership’s isolationist policies and police state approach.
And while Tashkent’s Western partners are unlikely to approve of the attempt to extend presidential powers, Uzbekistan risks little given the West is seeking support from all ex-Soviet nations in its efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine.
The reform also extends the presidential term to seven years from five.