Changes in Uzbekistan – a positive or a negative move?
Uzbekistan has never been a country where an anti-corruption agenda was important. But it seems that today, it has moved front and center. Yesterday’s move by the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has “instructed Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov to dismiss the heads of "internal anti-corruption control" units in 117 ministries and agencies, and to replace them with professional personnel”.
Honestly speaking, this has left me scratching my head. Having seen turnovers similar to this in several governments, the question is whether this is a blatant political move as per the US gamebook, or a genuine positive change in direction by the government to create a more constructive environment, to address more systemic, rather than petty corruption.
What has been articulated in the several articles, listed below, is that the President and his government have been disappointed by the work performed by the ministerial and governmental units. The idea is that there should more regional control, greater focus and that new people will be appointed. This leads to so many questions that cannot be answered today.
What should be done now? My usual stance is that ongoing oversight by civil society is essential, but in Uzbekistan previously, this was not possible, due to the dangers involved. But recently the government in Uzbekistan, has begun focusing on anti-corruption, and there might be a slight openness in society. The main problems in such countries, where corruption is high, but enforcement is low, is to see what the new appointees will look like. At the same time, the government, should look, within their Ministry of Internal Affairs and Justice to see what it can do to minimize corruption within the judiciary, and the prosecutorial system, which will be the better indicator of the seriousness of Uzbekistan’s government. Since civil society is still weaker, there will be a greater burden on the Uzbek citizenry to keep their eyes on their government and hold them accountable.
Links:
https://qalampir.uz/en/news/korruptsiya-115504
https://timesca.com/uzbekistan-ratchets-up-drive-against-evil-of-corruption/