Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The main group of the Parliamentary Election Observation Mission from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE / ODIHR) arrived in Uzbekistan.

In the following days, long-term observers will join the mission.

Upcoming 22 December elections will be the eighth in a row the participation of the OSCE / ODIHR mission in election observation in Uzbekistan. Prior to this, the mission participated in parliamentary observations in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014. and the presidential elections in 2007, 2015 and 2016.

At the same time, during the presidential election in Uzbekistan in 2016, the OSCE / ODIHR was first represented by a full-fledged mission. The OSCE / ODIHR full-scale mission will also participate for the first time in the observation of parliamentary elections in this year.

In previous years, the OSCE / ODIHR refused to send a full-fledged mission due to the lack of minimum conditions for holding democratic elections and the limited genuine political choice for voters. This became possible with the change of political leadership and the beginning of large-scale democratic reforms in the country.

The OSCE / ODIHR full-scale mission includes a core group (12 people), long-term (30 people) and short-term observers. The core group and long-term observers are represented by experts from 18 OSCE participating States, including USA, UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.

At the same time, the main group will be located in Tashkent. Long-term observers will monitor the preparation and conduct of parliamentary elections in the country’s regions.

In anticipation of the parliamentary elections scheduled for 22 December, 250 short-term observers are expected to arrive in our country. A total of 292 observers are foreseen from the OSCE / ODIHR.

The OSCE ODIHR’s decision to send a full-scale mission to Uzbekistan was preceded by a series of events.

In particular, over the past three years, painstaking work has been carried out in the country to genuinely reform the electoral law, which provided for the implementation of international standards, key OSCE / ODIHR recommendations in the field of fair, honest, democratic elections.

Firstly, the scattered and sometimes overlapping several laws and regulations on elections were consolidated in a single Electoral Code, which entered into force on 26 June 2019.This significantly contributed to increasing clarity, uniformity and consistency in the application of election laws in practice, and also the clarity and accessibility of its main provisions for the participants in the electoral process.

Secondly, the right to participate in elections for certain categories of people held in places of deprivation of liberty for crimes that do not constitute a particular danger is granted. This, in turn, was an important step towards the implementation of the principle of general democratic elections.

Thirdly, an important innovation was the abolition of the institution of quotas for seats in the Legislative Chamber. Thus, the conditions have been created for the implementation of the principle of direct voting.

Fourth, an electronic voter list has been introduced for the first time, which, in turn, will eliminate the fact of multiple voting. It will also strengthen the guarantee of fair and fair elections.

Fifth, the procedures related to the admission of political parties to the elections (collection of voter signatures) have been greatly simplified.

In addition, on 9-11 July, the OSCE / ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission (MEP) has visited Uzbekistan on a working visit. The MNP held a number of meetings in the CEC, the country’s parliament, political parties, and public organizations.

The MNP positively assessed the pre-election environment and the preparatory process, the measures taken to ensure the holding of free democratic elections in the country. Following the visit of the MNP, it was recommended that the OSCE / ODIHR full-fledged observation mission in parliamentary elections be sent.

This decision is a recognition of the beginning of a genuine reform of the electoral process in the country. Moreover, the upcoming parliamentary elections are seen by the OSCE as an important political event, which could be an important stage in the transition of Uzbekistan to democracy.

The OSCE / ODIHR mission is led by Cayetana de Zulueta Outram. For 16 years she worked as a journalist in such well-known publications as The Sunday Times, The Economist. She has 12 years of parliamentary experience - she was twice elected a member of the Senate and was a deputy in the lower house of the Italian parliament.

In the Senate she was a member of the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Defense, the Special Committee on Human Rights, and in the Chamber of Deputies she was a vice-president of the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs.

She participated in the elections as an international expert in about 20 countries. In particular, she led missions from the OSCE / ODIHR, the missions of the European Union, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in the elections in the USA, Germany, France, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh and others.

She led a limited OSCE / ODIHR election observation mission during the 29 March 2015 presidential election in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The OSCE / ODIHR mission begins monitoring the preparation and conduct of parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan from 25 November 2019.