Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The international community is ready to continue mutually beneficial cooperation with Uzbekistan in the implementation of the strategic course of elected President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

This conclusion follows from statements made during a joint press conference of the missions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, OSCE / ODIHR and the European Parliament, where the results of observation of the presidential elections in the Republic of Uzbekistan were presented.

The OSCE / ODIHR deployed a mission to observe the presidential elections in the Republic of Uzbekistan on 15 September. In addition, 98 members of the OSCE PA delegation and 12 members of the European Parliament delegation joined the Mission to observe the voting process. In total, the joint mission consisted of 365 observers from 44 countries.

The mission notes that election observation was carried out at 1,267 polling stations. At the same time, the voting process was calm and orderly, the CEC during the day periodically informed the public about the intermediate results of the expression of the will of citizens. Observers from political parties and citizens’ self-government bodies were present at all polling stations. The elections were also observed by 966 international observers and 1,672 journalists. This contributed to the openness and transparency of the electoral process. Negative moments related to the voting process were noted only in 11% of polling stations.

According to the statements of the observers of the OSCE participating States, the presidential elections were held against the background of the ongoing implementation of the reform strategy initiated by the President of Uzbekistan in the social, economic and political spheres under the motto "New Uzbekistan".

It is recognized that in recent years Uzbekistan has made significant progress in the process of preparing and holding elections, has carried out serious reforms of the electoral legislation, which have contributed to the implementation of a number of OSCE / ODIHR recommendations.

The strengthening of guarantees for the unimpeded conduct of election campaigns is welcomed, measures to exclude the facts of the use of administrative resources are positively assessed, and the strengthening of guarantees of legal protection of electoral rights is noted.

A high assessment is given to the activities of the CEC in the preparation and conduct of elections. It is emphasized that, despite the problems associated with COVID-19, the CEC organized its activities professionally, efficiently and effectively within the timeframes provided for by law.

It is indicated that for the first time all meetings of the CEC were open to the general public and broadcast in real time, and its decisions were immediately published on the website of the commission. This, as noted in the document, contributed to the openness and publicity of the electoral process.

Measures to create an enabling environment for persons with disabilities were also positively assessed. “It made a great impression on me,” said Danielle de Rieder, head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation. She added that "the evidence of clear support for the chosen course of reforms is the high turnout, exceeding 80%." In addition, it was noted that during the election campaign, there was no information about the presence of negative statements or cases of discrimination against national minorities. It is indicated that the Unified Electronic Voter List, introduced in 2019, has been significantly improved and is available to the general public, including on the Internet. This made it possible to synchronously update information about voters in real time.

Reinhold Lopatka, special coordinator of the OSCE short-term observers, stressed during the conference that “democracy is a long process and Uzbekistan is on the right track. We support Uzbekistan on this path”.

In turn, the head of the OSCE / ODIHR Mission, Owen Murphy, thanked the Uzbek authorities for the invitation and assistance in observing the elections. According to him, “the OSCE monitoring mission observed the elections for more than a month, while its activities were not impeded by either local authorities or the state as a whole. On the contrary, both state bodies and the private sector, civil society everywhere rendered all possible assistance to the Mission, closely interacted with the OSCE observers. "

Experts note that the participation of such a representative delegation of the OSCE PA, OSCE / ODIHR and the European Parliament for the first time testifies to the recognition and support of the policy of democratic transformations carried out in Uzbekistan in recent years, as well as the readiness of the international community to continue mutually beneficial cooperation with the Uzbek side in the implementation of Shavkat Mirziyoyev of the strategic course of reforming and modernizing the country.