Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 18 February 2020, an international conference was held in Tashkent on the theme: “A new stage in state and social construction in the Republic of Uzbekistan, increasing the role of parliament and representative bodies in the democratic modernization of the country.”

The forum was organized by the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan in conjunction with the Yuksalish National Movement and the representative office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Central Asia.

The conference was attended by members of the Senate and deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, representative local authorities, representatives of ministries and departments, the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, civil society institutions, the media, heads of diplomatic missions in the Republic of Uzbekistan, international and regional organizations, leading consulting companies.

The Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva, opening the event with an opening address, noted that all government bodies together with the people are doing a great job in the step-by-step formation of the economically developed “New Uzbekistan” with a strong civil society.

Today, the role of the public in ensuring reforms and transformations in society is significant. Senators and deputies as deputies should show the greatest activity and initiative in the implementation of reforms. At the same time, a deep approval of the new principle is necessary: “The initiator of reforms is society itself.”

It was noted that increasing the responsibility of representatives of the executive branch and strengthening their accountability to the people and parliament is one of the main factors and goals in strengthening the parliamentary control over the executive branch. In turn, such a system has now been established - not only ministers and khokims report to the chambers of parliament, but also representatives of the relevant executive authorities also report to local Kengashes.

At the same time, in order to introduce an effective mechanism of dialogue between all senators and the people, the interaction of senators with all local Kengashes has been established. In order to introduce a system of interaction between senators and 6570 deputies of local Kengashes, studies were organized, the work to be carried out together with them was determined. The main goal is to increase the activity of local deputies, the formation and development of their real deputy control.

Further strengthening the role, strengthening cooperation of the parliament with international parliamentary structures in ensuring the development of the national economy are one of the main directions of the upper house.

The purpose of the forum was to develop proposals and recommendations aimed at identifying and solving urgent problems to increase the role of parliament and representative bodies of local government in the democratic modernization of the country.

Also, the international conference has become an important platform for the development of effective mechanisms to ensure parliamentary efficiency and activity of local authorities in the process of addressing tasks aimed at further intensifying reforms in the country, developing the sphere of education, science, innovation and the digital economy.

The conference participants discussed the mechanisms for implementing the initiatives put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Message to the Oliy Majlis. At the same time, attention was focused on the issues of further expanding the powers of the legislative body in solving the problems of domestic and foreign policy, and implementing parliamentary control.

Among them are the study of public opinion regarding the observance of the rights and freedoms of business entities, the deepening of economic reforms, as well as the development of economic relations.

Another issue that was the focus of the participants’ attention was the increase in the effectiveness of parliamentary control in the context of modernization of the political system. In this direction, it was noted the importance of creating a monitoring group of deputies of local Kengashes of people’s deputies, workers and experts of the regional branches of the National Movement "Yuksalish", which is approved by the khokim of the region for effective cooperation of local Kengashes of people’s deputies with parliament. The group will constantly monitor the implementation of the tasks voiced in the Address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the implementation of the state program approved in the Year of the Development of Science, Education and the Digital Economy, and monthly submit information and proposals to the Senate.

The Forum also discussed the increasing role of the parliament and local councils of people’s deputies in the process of monitoring the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, identifying priorities for the development of the digital economy. Deep attention was paid to the issues of developing mechanisms for implementing priority tasks in the field of education, science and innovation, and ensuring the social welfare of citizens.

At the end of the international conference, recommendations were adopted to enhance the role of parliament and representative bodies in the democratic modernization of the country at the new stage of state and social construction.