Uzbek President Shavkat Mirzijoyev on Saturday withdrew from a controversial constitutional amendment, a day after it sparked large-scale protests in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Region. This is reported by Reuters news agency. The demonstrators were angry because the proposed constitutional amendment severely curtail the sovereignty of Karakalpakstan.
The constitutional amendment proposal, which will be held in a referendum in the coming months, stated that provisions on Karakalpakstan’s autonomous status would be removed from the constitution. The region’s right to organize a referendum on secession from Uzbekistan, if desired, would also lapse. During a visit to Karakalpakstan on Saturday, President Mirzijoev promised that the changes to the passages about the autonomous region should be removed from the constitutional amendment plans. However, he also declared a state of emergency for the coming month, according to AFP news agency.
Karakalpakstan, which is home to large communities of Karakalpaks and Kazakhs in addition to ethnic Uzbeks, has been an autonomous region since 1925. It was under the authority of Moscow for several years before being transferred to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it succeeded in including extensive autonomy in the Uzbek constitution. Although it covers almost half of the country in terms of area, only just under 2 million of the more than 34 million inhabitants of Uzbekistan, who otherwise live mainly around the capital Tashkent in the east of the country.
Government buildings stormed
According to the Uzbek interior ministry, the demonstrations are the result of “a misunderstanding about constitutional reforms,” reports Reuters news agency. The government of Karakalpakstan said in a statement that the demonstrators attempted to enter government buildings, after which the police intervened and arrested protesters.
In an effort to subjugate Karakalpakstan to Tashkent rule, President Mirzijojev said the website Turkmen.news sent the National Guard to the area. Also, according to Eurasianet restricted access to the internet, making it difficult to obtain current information from the area. If the constitutional changes are implemented, Mirzijojev will be able to volunteer for two more five-year terms. Mirzijojev, 64, has been president of the Central Asian country since 2016. Before that, he was Prime Minister from 2003.
The Uzbek medium Makan.uz shared images of the demonstrations
Correction (July 2, 2022): An earlier version of this article stated that Tashkent is located in western Uzbekistan. That has been corrected above.