Updated electoral legislation of Uzbekistan - the basis for democratic elections

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 3 October 2019, an international conference was held on the topic “Updated Electoral Laws of Uzbekistan - the Basis for Democratic Elections”.

The event was organized at the initiative of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis in cooperation with the Central Election Commission (CEC), the Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN Development Program in Uzbekistan.

This conference was held with the participation of international and foreign experts to discuss issues related to the organization and conduct of the upcoming elections to the Oliy Majlis in the light of the updated electoral legislation of Uzbekistan.

The conference was attended by deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, members of the Senate of the Parliament, representatives of the CEC, UNDP, the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, as well as foreign and national experts, scientists, representatives of government bodies, political parties, civil society institutions, and the media.

At the event, participants were given detailed information about the main new provisions in the electoral law, such as the refusal of the system for quoting seats in the Legislative Chamber for representatives of the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan, in connection with the creation and registration of the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan.

It was noted that the procedure for the operation of the Unified Electronic Voter List of Uzbekistan is legislatively regulated. It was also said about the introduction of a procedure for considering appeals of individuals and legal entities on the organization, conduct and tabulation of elections, providing the possibility of affixing a voter’s signature in support of several candidates or parties during the collection of signatures by political parties.

Along with this, it was established that the procedure for making proposals on candidatures for members of the precinct commission by citizens’ self-government bodies, public associations was established, the procedure for electing Senate members at the legislative level was determined, with the repeal of the Regulation on the procedure for electing Senate members of the Oliy Majlis, previously approved by the CEC.

At the conference, international experts Renata Levovsky and Giorgi Baratashvili also made presentations. The reports provided information on international experience and practice in conducting elections.

In their speeches, international experts noted that holding elections in Uzbekistan on the basis of democratic principles is important. So, the country adopted the Electoral Code and improved electoral legislation.

Then the conference continued its work in parallel in two sections. In the first section - “The Electoral Code - a guarantee of ensuring inter-party competition”, issues of the participation of political parties in elections and inter-party competition based on the requirements of the updated electoral law were discussed. The second section - “The Electoral Code - the basis for ensuring the openness of elections” discussed issues of media participation in covering election processes, as well as compliance with the requirements of electoral and information laws in covering election processes.

As a result of the event, proposals related to the organization and conduct of elections were considered. Following the conference, relevant recommendations were adopted.