- President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Karakalpakstan after rare protests over constitutional reform proposals.
- Proposals would have removed autonomous republic’s right to self-determination and brought it further under central control.
- Uzbekistan’s neighbour Kazakhstan has barred the passage of “people, vehicles and goods” through its border with Uzbekistan.
The president of Uzbekistan arrived in a protest-rocked autonomous republic on Saturday and promised that proposed constitutional amendments that would have weakened the territory’s status would be scrapped.
Authorities earlier said on Saturday that they had arrested “mass riot organisers” who wanted to seize administrative buildings in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, which saw rare protests over constitutional reform proposals.
A Friday demonstration brought thousands onto the streets of the regional capital and followed the publication of draft amendments to the Uzbek constitution that would have removed the republic’s right to self-determination and brought it further under central control.
The tightly controlled government has made no mention of casualties, although Telegram accounts have circulated footage that suggests fatalities occurred during the police crackdown.
Internet access has been restricted in the territory during the last week and at least one private media outlet deleted an article about the changes to Karakalpakstan’s status shortly after publishing it.
Spontaneous demonstrations are illegal in the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic and police said Friday that “order had been restored” in the area taken over by the protest.
Nevertheless, the demonstration marked arguably the biggest challenge yet to the rule of authoritarian President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The Uzbek leader styles himself as a reformer but has seen the economic opening of his reign undermined by successive global crises — the coronavirus pandemic and key trade partner Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mirziyoyev’s press service on Saturday said he had held a meeting with lawmakers of Karakalpakstan’s parliament and that the articles of the constitution concerning the region would remain unchanged “on the basis of… the opinions stated by residents of Karakalpakstan”.
The proposed changes that had angered residents included one that removed the republic’s constitutional right to secede from Uzbekistan via referendum.
The article dates back to 1993 after the republic’s leadership made a push for greater separation from Uzbekistan on the eve of the fall of the Soviet Union.
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