is an Important Factor of Free and Fair Election

Ulugbek INOYATOV, Chairman of the Central Council, People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan.

— Enactment of the Election Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan appears to be the result of the work done in line with the Action Strategy on Five Priority Areas of Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017 – 2021 in the area of the election laws improvement.

I would like to emphasize that this is not merely consolidation of all the laws earlier in force in the sphere of election laws. A crucially new legal space for organization and holding elections has been established.

Experts of the PDP of Uzbekistan, as well as experts of the other parties, took an active part in development of the draft Election Code. I would like to state with satisfaction that the essential enhancement of legal guarantees for establishing equal conditions for the parties to participate in the election process has become the outcome of our joint work supported by the lawmakers.

That quota for election of the members of the Legislative Chamber directly by the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan has been cancelled turned to be an important step towards providing the really equal conditions for the political parties’ participation in the elections. The provision in force earlier, along with establishing unilateral advantages for the members of the mentioned movement, reduced the number of seats for the deputies from political parties to be elected to the lower chamber of parliament.

Now, only the political parties only nominate their candidates for the deputies of all levels; that, no doubts, will promote better competition at the elections. Particularly that the number of seats in parliament that the political parties will compete to obtain has increased significantly.

The unjustified limitations in force for collecting signatures for the parties’ participation in the elections of deputies of the Legislative Chamber were removed. Now, each voter is entitled to support participation in the elections of several parties with his/her signature. In this case, a correct division line has been drawn between the support of participation in the elections and voting for a nominee from certain political party.

The provision in force earlier as if pushed the voters to make their political preferences at this stage. And this was in contradiction with the logic of election process envisaging that a voter makes his/her decision on the day of voting.

The enhancement of observer’s role from the political parties, lifting of unjustified limitations of their number, as well as clear - cut legal securing of their rights and powers and significant enhancement of the institution of authorized representatives of the parties at the polling stations has a special importance for securing transparency of the elections.

In the Election Code, provisions governing the conduction of the pre-election campaign have been unified and systematized, the forms of propaganda and order of their employment have been clearly defined, which enhances guarantees for the establishment of equal conditions for the parties’ participation in the election process.

All that establishes the necessary legal basis for the present elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the local representative bodies of the state power to meet consensual international criteria of free and fair elections.

We understand well that the enhancement of guarantees for equal conditions for participation in the elections is not only new rights and opportunities, but also the expansion of the parties’ responsibility for their efficient implementation in the interests of the constituency that support our party at the elections.

On the basis of that, the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, entering into the election campaign, places efforts to renovate its ideological and programmatic documents.

Taking into account the trends of today’s development of the country and key priorities of the Action Strategy, we have itemized the principles of our political ideology, revisited and many of our programmatic priorities.

As its major political goal, our party considers formation of the social democratic state securing the social equality of all the citizens with no regard of their social and property status, accountability of the government to the people, and guaranteeing the high level of social protection of the vulnerable groups of population in Uzbekistan.

Out party believes that for that end, first of all, it is necessary to provide the enhancement of social efficiency of the reforms underway. We consider improvement of the living standards less provided and vulnerable groups of the population, in the first place. This is one of the foundations for strengthening the public stability as the necessary condition for sustainable economic development and formation of democratic state.

With this regard, the party aims to propose a number of specific measures for raising the efficiency of current system of pension and social benefits, provision of social services to people.

Thus, while addressing the tasks of fully meeting the vital needs of pensioners, the disabled people, single elderly citizens and other vulnerable groups of the population, we consider it necessary to raise the role of social entrepreneurship and private public partnership.

Based on the international legal norms and the Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities, the party envisages, in its new Pre-election Program, to develop and submit proposals for further improvement of the national laws in this area.

We believe that social equality, along with other criteria, means equal opportunities of having the standard education and professional health services in any populated area of Uzbekistan, as well, including ones in remote and out-of-way rural areas. In this regard, as the PDP of Uzbekistan holds, it is necessary to legislatively fasten the system of additional material and moral incentives for highly professional pedagogical and medical workers working in remote villages.

The social efficiency of reforms is not an abstract notion rather it must be, in our opinion, to have specific quality indices. In this regard, the pre-election programmatic goals of the PDP of Uzbekistan envisage submitting proposals on enshrining in laws of state minimal social standards. With this regard, we believe that it is necessary, based on the relevant international recommendations and advanced international best practices, to submit on the procedure of legislative regulation of minimum subsistence level definition based on calculation of the consumer basket cost.

Our party pays special attention, in its programmatic documents, to the issues of efficient involvement of unemployed able-bodied population in stable jobs with decent wages, too, including promotion of realistic labor employment of the disabled people and entrepreneurship of needy families’ members. We attach importance, as well, to aggressively promote provision of social availability of housing, communal services, guaranteed health services, and standard education for needy families and other vulnerable groups of people.

These and our other programmatic priorities make the basis of political identity of the PDP of Uzbekistan and subject for pre-election contention for the deputy’s seats with other parties.

At the election campaign that started, we have stepped aside from simplified understanding of preparation for the election supposing that it is appropriate to talk on the political ideology and party’s programmatic goals with people at the period of pre-election campaign only.

At present, a series of mass social and political events are carried out through local and primary party organizations, within framework of that the goals and objectives that will be supposed to the congress for inclusion to the Party Program are explained to the people.

We consider it necessary as such a work allows to assess to what extent our pre-election priorities are topical, as well as to take into account the social interests and vital needs of the basic social groups of population in them and proposals of the of participants of the events on the ways how to solve the respective social and economic tasks.

Today, we can tell with confidence that inter-party competiveness in new legal conditions is going to be more aggressive and meaningful, as compared with previous ones. The People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan is ready to engage in this competition efficiently using the new guarantees and opportunities and strictly respecting principles of universal international election ethics.