Presidential elections will be held in Uzbekistan on the 9th of July 2023 and only candidates who were nominated by officially registered political parties can participate in the elections. The current president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev obtained in the elections from 2021 an overwhelming 80.1% of the votes. With no real competitor offering an alternative, the elections were very simple for the incumbent. We should be ready to see the same process in 2023, with the current president as the winner again.
In April 2023, citizens were called to express their opinion in a referendum regarding constitutional reforms. Through these reforms, president Shavkat Mirziyoyev will be able to remain in power until 2037 (an astonishing 90% of the votes expressed were in favour of the proposed reforms). In practical terms, the president will be allowed to run for two more terms, while presidential terms will be extended from 5 to 7 years. President Mirziyoyev justifies this through the need to continue the reforms initiated in the past.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) considered the constitutional referendum as being well prepared from a technical point of view, but it took place in a society marked by the lack of real political competition. According to OSCE –The referendum was tabled as a continuation of broader reforms and the consultation process was comprehensive overall, but it lacked open debate on some contentious issues. There was no organized opposition to the amendments, and altogether, the referendum process highlighted the need to further encourage alternative political views, respect fundamental freedoms, and provide opportunities for an independent civil society to develop.
Today, Uzbekistan is a country with 35 million inhabitants, where there is no real opposing figure to Mirziyoyev, a politician that is praised for its efforts of modernizing the Uzbek society. But yet again, relevant negative examples are still present – the Truth and Development Social Democratic Party didn`t manage to achieve registration, despite the efforts put into organizing the party by Khidirnazar Allakulov, who often criticizes the current leadership of the country. Given the whole situation of the Uzbek political landscape, it is most probable that the presidential elections of 2023 will strengthen the current president, cementing his grasp on power.
