TASHKENT -- Uzbek lawmakers have agreed to hold a referendum on a new constitution that would allow President Shavkat Mirziyoev to run for a third term in office.
Uzbek parliament's lower house, the Legislative Chamber, on March 10 set April 30 as the date for the referendum, with 132 lawmakers supporting the move. Two MPs abstained and three did not take part in the vote.
The amendments changing the constitution are expected to be approved in the referendum by a majority of the tightly controlled former Soviet republic, which, according to Uzbek officials, will "nullify" Mirziyoev's previous and current terms, allowing him to run for another two consecutive terms.
The draft also extends the duration of a term from five to seven years. Mirziyoev's current term ends in 2026. According to the lawmakers, the amendments will change about two-thirds of the constitution, with the number of articles in the document rising to 155 from 128.
The draft also declares Uzbekistan will be "a social state" while almost tripling the state's obligations citizens.
The changes to the constitution were initiated by Mirziyoev last summer.
Among other things, the proposed amendments at the time included abolishing the Central Asian nation's Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic's right to secede.
However, Mirziyoev dropped the idea to change Karakalpakstan's status after thousands of Karakalpaks protested in early July last year against the elimination from the constitution Karakalpakstan's long-standing right to seek independence from Uzbekistan.
Uzbek authorities say 21 people died in Karakalpakstan during the protests' dispersal by law enforcement forces. Dozens of the participants in the rallies were later handed prison terms on charges of plotting to seize power by disrupting the constitutional order, organizing mass unrest, embezzlement, and money laundering. Other dozens are either on or awaiting trials.
The referendum, on April 30 will be the third referendum in the history of independent Uzbekistan.
Mirziyoev's predecessor, the country’s late authoritarian first President Islam Karimov, who died in 2016, held two referendums in 1995 and 2002 prolonging his terms without elections and changing the length of presidential terms.