Preliminary data showed today (Monday) that Uzbekistan approved in a referendum a package of constitutional amendments that will allow President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to run for two additional seven-year terms when his current term ends in 2026.
Ninety-point twenty-one percent of voters in the referendum held yesterday (Sunday) approved the amendments that permit the extension of Mirziyoyev's tenure.
Mirziyoyev, 65, has embraced economic openness in the former Soviet republic, significantly improved his country's relations with the West, and reduced the powers of security agencies that previously turned Uzbekistan into a police state.
