Uzbek Senate to hold referendum on new draft constitution

Uzbekistan's upper house of parliament, the Senate, has approved the decision of the Legislative Chamber, the lower house of parliament, to hold a referendum on the new draft constitution on April 30.

Out of 137 MPs, 134 approved the new Basic Law of the country, two abstained and one did not vote, the “Uzbekistan 24” channel reports.

According to the channel, the constitution will be updated by 65 per cent, with 27 new articles and their number will increase from 128 to 155, and the law will become 434 instead of the current 275.

On March 10, members of the Legislative Chamber decided to hold a referendum on April 30. On March 14, the Constitutional Court of Uzbekistan ruled that a referendum on that date was justified.

Uzbek presidential spokesman Sherzod Asadov said the bill to amend the constitution was drafted after studying more than 200,000 proposals.