The best world practice shows that the public administration reform, raising democratic reforms to a new level does not happen by itself. It depends on many factors. For this it is necessary to take into account the interests and aspirations of different strata of society, to prepare the ground for their implementation.
An open dialogue of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the leaders of the political parties of our country has become an important event in this regard. At the meeting, views were exchanged on the issues of enhancing the role and importance of parties in the political and public life of the country, as well as more effective protection of the rights and interests of various sectors of society. The opinions and judgments expressed in the course of an open dialogue, ideas and initiatives put forward will be of great importance in strengthening the activities of political parties.
The People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan pays special attention to active participation in activities for the comprehensive development of regions, improving the wellbeing of the population, and reducing poverty. In this process, from the lower structures of our party, our deputy associations in local councils, special determination and activity is required. We are radically reviewing our activities, programs and projects in this direction. Indeed, it is very important that laws, decisions and other normative documents aimed at protecting the interests of our electorate reach all levels, directly and positively affect people’s lives.
The position of a political party in relation to the ongoing reforms should first of all be reflected in the work of its lower structures. It should be admitted that insufficient attention has so far been paid to strengthening the activities of local councils of deputies, providing them with all-round support and stimulation. At the meeting, we realized even deeper the importance of this area for ensuring the effectiveness of reforms, and received important recommendations.
The territorial councils of the People’s Democratic Party have over 1,600 deputies. The correct use of this huge potential, the transformation of our party into an active participant in the ongoing reforms is an important task facing our party.
Reducing poverty, ensuring employment, vocational training, increasing social and economic activity – all these are issues that directly affect women and youth. As is known, especially large-scale reforms have been launched in these areas this year. All government structures are entrusted with important tasks in this direction.
How do political parties participate in this process? Of course, each party, based on its own ideas and goals, should become a kind of mechanism encouraging young people and women to social and political activity. During the open dialogue, the importance of these issues in improving the wellbeing of the population, eliminating the dependent mood among the population was widely and deeply analyzed.
In the direction of women and youth, we should not limit ourselves to just holding events, one or two formal workshops. It is necessary to develop projects corresponding to the mood of today’s youth, which will serve to solve the problems and concerns of women. In these issues, we must pay special attention to the full use of the potential of our deputies in local councils.
In order to effectively protect the interests of our electorate, we also set important tasks to strengthen the political activity of our party.
As is known, the low quality of primary health care at the local level, that is, in rural family polyclinics and rural medical centers, becomes the reason for justified discontent among the population. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of compliance with the legislation in the sphere. The electorate of our party primarily suffers from this situation. Therefore, our party will establish systematic parliamentary and deputy control over the quality of primary health care, and especially over the development of a system of qualified primary health care for low-income groups of the population, and will develop specific proposals for improving legislation in the sphere.
Another urgent problem is that not all remote villages and districts have the necessary conditions for children’s cultural recreation, sports, music and art. Lack of appropriate infrastructure and work of cultural institutions on a paid basis limit the opportunities for children from low-income families. Our party, together with parliamentary structures, plans to critically study the work of cultural and sports institutions, Barkamol Avlod centers, music and art schools in remote villages and develop proposals for the development of this area, creating the necessary conditions for rural youth in this direction.
Another painful problem for our people is the issue of social protection for children of Mercy Homes and youth left without parental care. Such young people, in the transition from state care to an independent life, find themselves socially isolated, deprived of housing. This negatively affects their future life. This year, the State Program provides for the allocation of large funds to solve this problem. But on the basis of what mechanism will the process of providing young people with housing be organized? Will the principles of transparency and social justice be respected?
These questions are still open. That is why our party, together with the lower-level parliamentary structures, will begin consultations with local hokimiyats to create an appropriate mechanism.
There are many healthy, able-bodied citizens living on dependents among the family members included in the “iron notebook”. Our party considers it very important to get such people out of their dependent state, to make them active participants in society and thereby significantly reduce poverty. Outreach activity in this direction will be strengthened.
In general, political parties, as the basis of representative power, must constantly maintain contact with both the government and citizens. At the meeting with our President, we once again became deeply convinced of the importance of this democratic principle. The People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan will make every effort and opportunity to become an active participant in the ongoing democratic and socio-economic reforms in the country.
Ulugbek INOYATOV,
Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis