General provisions
At the invitation of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan and in accordance with the Regulations on the CIS Observer Mission for Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, as well as Referendums in the CIS member States, the Observer Mission from the Commonwealth of Independent States (hereinafter – Since April 12, 2023, the Mission has been monitoring the preparation and holding of the referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (hereinafter referred to as the referendum).
95 observers representing the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS member States, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, as well as the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States were accredited as part of the Mission. Their activities were coordinated by the Mission Headquarters located in the city of Tashkent. 8 observers worked on a long-term basis.
As part of the monitoring of the referendum, the Head of the Mission, Secretary General of the CIS S. Lebedev held meetings with Chairman of the Central Election Commission Z. Nizamkhodzhayev, Head of the Mission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization C. Min, Head of the OSCE ODIHR Mission A. Jonsson, visited the district and precinct commissions for the referendum of the Jizzakh region, as well as the city of Tashkent.
Long-term observers from the CIS held meetings at the Central Election Commission, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Supreme Court, The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan got acquainted with the work of district and precinct commissions for holding a referendum in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Andijan, Bukhara, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Navoi, Namangan, Samarkand, Syrdarya, Tashkent, Ferghana, Khorezm regions and the city of Tashkent.
The Mission worked freely and independently, guided by the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, documents adopted within the framework of the Commonwealth, without interfering in the preparation and conduct of the referendum and in the internal affairs of the state. The Mission Headquarters issued information messages and gave interviews to the media.
Appointment of a referendum
The initiative to start the process of improving the Constitution of the country on May 17, 2022 in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan was taken by the factions of the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan and the Democratic Party “Milliy Tiklanish”.
A Constitutional Commission was established on May 20, 2022 at a joint meeting of the Kengashes of the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis to form proposals on amendments to the Constitution and the implementation of appropriate organizational measures. It consisted of 46 people – deputies, senators, representatives of all regions of Uzbekistan, civil society institutions, lawyers, political scientists and other experts.
At a meeting of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis on June 24, 2022, a resolution was adopted on submitting the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” for public discussion.
The nationwide discussion of the draft amendments and additions to the Constitution, posted on the portal “This is my Constitution”, took place from June 25 to August 1, 2022.
During the work that lasted until March 2023, more than 220 thousand proposals were considered and, taking into account the results of the national discussion, the final version of the draft Constitutional Law on amendments and additions to the Constitution was prepared.
On March 10, 2023, the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis adopted a resolution “On holding a referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, which on March 13, 2023, the Constitutional Court recognized as corresponding to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On March 15, 2023, the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved the text of the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” and decided to schedule a referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” for April 30, 2023.
Legislative framework for holding a referendum
The referendum was held on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (hereinafter – the Law), other legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as resolutions of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter – the Central Commission, CEC) adopted in the development of the provisions of the Law.
Experts from the Mission Headquarters and the International Institute for Monitoring the Development of Democracy, Parliamentarism and Respect for the Electoral Rights of citizens of the IPA CIS member states analyzed the legislation governing the referendum. According to the Mission, it contains guarantees of free and open popular voting, provides for public control of the stages of its preparation and conduct.
At the referendum , the citizens of the country were asked to answer the question: “Do you accept the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution Of the Republic of Uzbekistan”?”.
In accordance with the Law, a referendum is recognized as having taken place if more than half of the citizens included in the lists took part in it. A decision is recognized as adopted at a referendum if more than half of the citizens who took part in the voting voted for it.
Formation of referendum commissions and their activities
The preparation and conduct of the referendum was carried out by the Central Commission, 14 district referendum commissions (hereinafter referred to as district commissions) and 10,813 precinct referendum commissions (hereinafter referred to as precinct commissions), including 55 abroad.
The Central Commission is formed by the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan consisting of at least 15 members. The CEC members are elected by the Legislative Chamber and the Senate of the Oliy Majlis on the recommendation of the Jocargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city Kengashes of People’s Deputies. The Chairman of the Central Commission is elected from among its members on the proposal of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan at a meeting of the commission.
The district commissions are formed by the Central Commission no later than ten days after the publication of the decision on the appointment of the referendum, consisting of the chairman, deputy chairman, secretary and 8-18 members. Candidates for members of district commissions are discussed at meetings of the Jocarga Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city Councils of People’s deputies and are recommended for approval by the CEC no later than seven days after the announcement of the decision to hold a referendum.
Precinct commissions are formed by district commissions no later than twenty-five days after the publication of the decision on the appointment of a referendum consisting of 5-19 members, including the chairman, deputy chairman and secretary. Candidates for members of the precinct commission are proposed by citizens’ self-government bodies, public associations, enterprises, institutions and organizations, discussed at meetings of district and city councils of people’s deputies and recommended for approval by the relevant district commission.
The formation of district and precinct commissions took place in accordance with the procedure and deadlines defined in the Law. Information about the addresses, phone numbers of the commissions, as well as lists of their members were published in the press.
The Mission notes the systematic work of the Central Commission on the organization of the referendum campaign.
By the resolution of the CEC on March 16, 2023, the Calendar Plan for the preparation and holding of the referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was approved.
In addition, the CEC, within its competence, adopted a number of resolutions concerning certain issues of the referendum campaign.
On March 16, 2023, the Central Commission formed 14 referendum districts within the borders of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions and the city of Tashkent. The Central Commission also established 55 referendum precincts at the diplomatic and other representations of the Republic of Uzbekistan in foreign countries.
The district commissions, within the time limits established by Law, formed polling stations for the referendum in the territories of the respective districts.
Much attention was paid by the Central Commission to the training of the organizers of the referendum, conducted in accordance with the Concept approved by the CEC on June 28, 2022 on the organization of advanced training of members of the referendum commissions.
The educational process took place according to the cascade method in several stages. Initially, curricula and teaching materials were prepared, the coaching staff was formed. Then training seminars were held for candidates for the positions of chairmen, deputy chairmen and secretaries of precinct commissions, covering more than 32 thousand people. After the formation of precinct commissions, training and practical classes were held for the rest of their members, in which more than 110 thousand people took part.
Separate training seminars were organized for members of precinct commissions selected as operators for working with a unified electronic list of voters and an information system for managing the electoral process.
In order to ensure uniform application of the norms of the legislation on the referendum, the CEC published the “Educational and Practical manual on the legislation and practice of the referendum”, “Collection of legislative acts on the referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan”. Memos were also prepared for local observers, for foreign (international) observers, for representatives of local and foreign media, employees of the internal affairs bodies and the National Guard.
The Mission notes the transparent and open work of the Central Commission, whose meetings were broadcast on the YouTube platform in real time.
As part of the long-term monitoring, CIS observers got acquainted with the activities of district and precinct commissions in preparation for the referendum and noted that they had the necessary conditions for work, were provided with transport, communications, office equipment, regulatory and methodological literature. The text of the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, infograms on the voting procedure were placed in the premises of precinct commissions.
According to the Mission, the Central and subordinate commissions have taken the necessary measures to properly prepare and conduct the referendum in accordance with the requirements of the legislation.
Lists of citizens eligible to participate in the referendum
Lists of voting citizens were compiled by precinct commissions on the basis of the Unified Electronic List of Voters of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UESI).
In accordance with the Law, the list of voting citizens includes persons who have the right to participate in the referendum, permanently or temporarily residing at the time of drawing up the list on the territory of this referendum precinct.
Within 3 days after their formation, the precinct commissions received preliminary voter lists from the UES and, together with members of the public, volunteers, carried out work to clarify them by a door-to-door (apartment-by-apartment) bypass of those living on the territory of the precinct.
Citizens were given the opportunity 10 days before the voting day – from April 19, 2023 – to get acquainted with the lists in the premises of the precinct commission and check the correctness of their compilation. Every citizen had the right to declare an error or inaccuracy in the lists of voting citizens. Within 24 hours, the precinct commission was obliged to check the application and either eliminate the error or inaccuracy, or give the applicant a reasoned response about the rejection of the application, which could be appealed in court.
In addition, through the Unified Portal of Interactive Public Services of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the official website of the CEC, voting citizens could use the interactive service for determining and changing the referendum site.
In accordance with the Law, amendments to the lists of voting citizens were suspended 5 days before the referendum.
A citizen who for some reason was not included in the list, on the day of the referendum, on the basis of a document certifying identity, citizenship and residence, was included in the appendix to the list of voting citizens.
According to the CEC, 19 million 722 thousand 809 citizens were included in the lists for participation in the referendum.
Campaigning and informing the participants of the referendum
In accordance with the Law, citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, public associations, self-governing bodies of citizens have the right to freely agitate for or against holding a referendum, for or against a draft law, a current law or another issue submitted to a referendum.
Campaigning on the day of the referendum and the day before the start of the referendum is not allowed.
The Mission notes that the Central and subordinate commissions, the mass media provided comprehensive information support for the campaign for the preparation and conduct of the referendum.
The text of the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was published in the republic’s media on March 15, 2023, published in a separate brochure in Uzbek, Russian, Karakalpak languages, and also printed in Braille.
By the day of the referendum, more than 5 thousand broadcasts and reports on the upcoming vote were broadcast on the country’s TV and radio channels. About 1 thousand articles and materials on the subject of the referendum have been published in republican and regional print media.
Information videos explaining the rights of voting citizens and the voting procedure, as well as social advertising calling for participation in the referendum were regularly broadcast on television and radio channels. About 1,500 information and advertising boards and billboards, banners, posters placed in the most visited places and on public transport were used to inform about the voting day.
Posters with the text of the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” were produced by order of the CEC, as well as more than 20 names of infographic materials that were posted in the premises of district and precinct commissions.
The precinct commissions sent invitations to the referendum to the voting citizens by April 19, 2023, indicating the date, place and time of voting.
SMS messages were also used to notify citizens about the voting day.
Instagram Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube platforms provided detailed information on the preparation for the referendum on the Central Commission’s website in the section “Referendum 2023”, as well as on the official pages of the CEC on social networks: Odnoklassniki, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.
At the CEC, the work of the Operational Information Center was organized to organize a quick and effective consideration of appeals from individuals and legal entities, immediate and qualified provision of explanations and consultations to citizens on issues related to the referendum.
In order to create the necessary conditions for media representatives to cover the preparations for the referendum, promptly receive and disseminate information about the referendum campaign, the CEC press center and its branches in the regions of the republic were opened.
Consideration of applications and complaints
The Mission Headquarters interacted with the republican bodies, whose competence includes consideration of citizens’ appeals related to violations of the legislation on the referendum.
As of April 29, 2023, the Central Commission received 241 appeals, which were considered within the time limits established by Law. Statements concerning violations of the law during the preparation of the referendum were not sent to the Prosecutor’s office. According to the Supreme Court, the courts of the Republic have not received complaints related to the referendum. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, no offenses related to the referendum campaign have been recorded.
Monitoring of voting and counting of votes
of referendum participants
In accordance with the Law, citizens who were unable to stay at their place of residence on the day of the referendum could, from April 19 to April 26, 2023, vote ahead of schedule at the premises of the precinct commission from 9.00 to 18.00 on weekdays and from 12.00 to 16.00 on weekends and holidays.
Representatives of the Mission observed the procedure of early voting at certain polling stations of the referendum and state that it was held in accordance with the requirements of the Law.
On the day of the referendum on April 30, 2023, voting was held from 8.00 to 20.00.
The organizers of the referendum created additional conditions for voting citizens with disabilities: the premises of precinct commissions were equipped with ramps, special voting booths for wheelchair users, information materials made in Braille and stencils were provided to blind voters, allowing them to fill out the ballot themselves.
At the request of persons who, for health reasons or for other reasons, could not arrive at the referendum site, voting was organized in their places of residence using portable ballot boxes.
To implement the principle of transparency and openness during the referendum, 417 polling stations were equipped with webcams that broadcast the voting process on the Internet in real time.
For the first time, as an experiment, equipment for biometric identification of voting citizens was used at 50 polling stations in the city of Tashkent, which allows avoiding cases of repeated voting.
CIS observers visited 683 referendum polling stations in the regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the city of Tashkent, and also monitored foreign polling stations in the Republic of Azerbaijan (Baku), the Republic of Belarus (Minsk), the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty), the Kyrgyz Republic (Bishkek), the Russian Federation (Moscow, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg), in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (London), the Italian Republic (Rome), the People’s Republic of China (Beijing), the Republic of Korea (Seoul) and the French Republic (Paris). According to their estimates, the voting took place in a calm atmosphere, with a high turnout of voting citizens.
The participation of more than 44 thousand observers from political parties and citizens’ self-government bodies in the monitoring of the vote allowed, according to CIS observers, to exercise broad civil control over the conduct of the referendum.
The members of the Mission were present at the vote count and note that this procedure was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Law.
CIS observers have not recorded any violations that could have an impact on the results of the referendum.
Conclusions
The observer mission from the Commonwealth of Independent States concludes that:
- The referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was held at a high organizational level, in free and open atmosphere, in accordance with the current legislation;
- the organizers of the referendum provided citizens with the opportunity to freely express their will
A source: https://e-cis.info/news/564/108801/
