Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - At the twelfth plenary meeting of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the improvement of electoral legislation" was discussed.

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

However, it became necessary to convey to the international community the essence of the large-scale reforms carried out in our country in this area by eliminating a number of shortcomings and problems that took place in the 2019 parliamentary elections, implementing some acceptable recommendations of international organizations into national legislation.

The law, developed taking into account uniform transparent and effective approaches to the electoral process, introduces a number of changes.

Thus, the institution of district election commissions for elections to district (city) Kengashes of people's deputies is abolished, and their powers are transferred to district (city) election commissions. A legal framework is being created for the procedure for including citizens of Uzbekistan living abroad in the voter list, regardless of whether they are registered in the consular register of diplomatic missions, as well as voting by using mobile ballot boxes at the place of residence or work of voters living abroad.

In addition, a procedure is established according to which observers must notify the precinct election commission at least three days before visiting the polling stations formed in places of detention and imprisonment in military units.

Changes are also being made based on the recommendations of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe:

exclusion of the powers of election commissions to facilitate meetings of candidates with voters;

establishing a ban on the use of state resources during election campaigning;

reducing the time frame for appealing against decisions of election commissions from 10 to 5 days in order to prevent an unjustified extension of the deadline for announcing election results;

introduction of a procedure for disclosing the interim and final financial statements of political parties, as well as publishing the results of audits by the Accounts Chamber of the activities of parties in order to ensure transparency in the use of funds allocated for election campaign by political parties.

In accordance with the current legislation, elections of the President to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and local representative bodies are held, respectively, in the year of the expiration of their constitutional term of office - on the first Sunday of the third decade of December.

According to the amendments, it is proposed to hold elections in October.

According to the senators, the adoption of the Law will further improve the electoral legislation on the basis of generally recognized international electoral standards, ensure a more open and transparent electoral process, and achieve an improvement in Uzbekistan's indicators in the democracy index among the countries of the world. The law also creates the basis for the timely formation of the highest state bodies after elections and the adoption of important political decisions. Thanks to this document, active participation of citizens in elections will be ensured and favorable conditions will be created for observers and voters.

The introduction of these changes and additions is of great importance in the socio-political life of our country and reflect such democratic principles as openness, transparency, fairness and objectivity.

The law was approved by the senators.