Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At the fifteenth plenary session of the Senate, the Law "On Amendments and Additions to the Electoral Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan" was discussed.

In recent years, a number of practical measures have been taken to strengthen the legal foundations of democracy and political pluralism and the gradual modernization of the electoral system during elections for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and in representative government bodies based on the principles of openness, transparency and independence.

As you know, at the twelfth plenary session of the Senate, the Law "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the improvement of electoral legislation" was approved, which was adopted on the recommendations of international and national experts and was positively evaluated by the international community.

Analysis of the current electoral legislation shows that there are some problems in holding meetings with voters and filing complaints about actions and decisions of election commissions.

The OSCE Election Mission recommended to establish that no separate permission is required for holding meetings with voters, and candidates must notify the relevant authorities in writing about the place and time of their holding no later than 3 days in advance.

The OSCE Election Mission recommended to determine that complaints about the actions and decisions of election commissions are considered only by the court. 

The discussed Law made the following changes based on the recommendations of national experts, providing for the provision of a unified, transparent and effective approach to the electoral process:

- from the powers of higher election commissions, the provision providing for the consideration of complaints against actions and decisions of lower election commissions is excluded;

- the formation of a district election commission for the election of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan is consolidated, consisting of a chairman, deputy chairman, secretary and eight to eighteen other members of the commission;

- the rule on the indication in the ballot paper of the position (occupation), place of work of the candidate is also excluded;

- it is possible to verify the identity of citizens along with a passport and an identification ID-card when collecting signatures in elections in support of a political party or candidate;

- it is stipulated that public events, such as meetings with voters, are held with a written notification of the district (city) khokimiyats of the place and time of their holding at least three days in advance. At the same time, permission for holding public events is not required.

The adoption of this Law serves to further improve the national electoral legislation on the basis of generally recognized international electoral standards and to inform the international community of the ongoing democratic reforms in this direction.

The law was approved by the senators.