The election campaign in Uzbekistan has entered its active phase. Parties that have nominated candidates for deputies of the Legislative Chamber and Councils of people’s deputies at places have announced in an open press the main priorities of their pre-election programs and are launching campaigns for their support by voters.

Some of the priorities of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan were the first to become available to the public. Moreover, some online publications and bloggers on popular social networks have tried to give them the character of a political scandal. Moreover, all because the party leader Ulugbek Inoyatov expressed the opinion that 2.5 million soums per month is enough to meet the needs of a family of five people in basic foodstuffs conditioned by physiological norms.

The slender choir of voices indignant at such a statement resembled little the pre-election polemic. Logic and valuation calculations faded into the background. The emotions of those who indignantly talked about their own personal impossibility to satisfy their needs within this amount of monthly income prevailed.

At the same time, none of the “protesters” even bothered to figure out what the programmatic priorities of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan are and in what connection this sum was mentioned by the party leader.

For the sake of objectivity, it must be noted that among those who got involved in the “polemic” there were those who, following their common sense, picked up a calculator, armed themselves with the norms of a healthy balanced diet recommended by the World Health Organization and based on the prices of foodstuffs actually formed on the consumer market (true, without sneakers, “energy” drinks and visiting restaurants) calculated the cost of the grocery part of the consumer basket. The results ranged from 1 million 600 thousand to 1 million 800 thousand. In addition, when these results were published in comments on “scandalous” publications, their authors surprisingly “spontaneously” formed the unanimous majority of “protesters” immediately rushed to declare “accomplices of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan in the desire of this party to plunge the people of the country into “general poverty”.

Let us try to calmly understand, first of all, what the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan is actually calling for. Nevertheless, this party considers the formation of the foundations of a social democratic state as its main program goal.

The solution to this problem, first of all, means ensuring welfare for all. That is, ensuring for each family that level of income that will be sufficient to fully satisfy the priority necessities of life, including well-maintained housing, uninterrupted provision of reliable and sustainable sources of energy, natural gas and drinking water, balanced healthy nutrition, quality education and medical care.

The party’s program also called for a specific reference point for such a level of wellbeing – the level and quality of life of the population not lower than that achieved in the middle developed countries of the world. Anyone who is not too lazy to turn to the data on human development published in relevant annual reports of UNDP, it will become clear that we are talking about income levels that are significantly higher than the mentioned 2.5 million soums.

I would like to draw attention to one more question. For those for whom 500 thousand soums per month per person is not enough for food, and who already earn much more for their living, there is nothing to worry about. The People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan does not call for limiting family income. On the contrary, the party calls to raise the incomes of low-income families to a decent level.

I will give the official numbers. On November 1, the Ministry of Finance published on its website for universal access the draft State Budget for 2020 (Budget for Citizens). Along with other interesting data, this document clearly indicates the number of families receiving social benefits and material assistance from the budget – about 600 thousand families were identified by three types of benefits and assistance.

Article 39 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan establishes that “Pensions, allowances and other kinds of welfare may not be lower than the officially fixed minimum subsistence wage”. Nevertheless, not a single legislative act determines who formally establishes a living wage and based on what standards.

In this regard, the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan suggests starting with the legislative definition of a living wage. That is, with the adoption of such a Law that will link the amount of the subsistence minimum not with the basic estimated value, but with the cost of the minimum consumer basket, regularly (taking into account the level of inflation) reviewed based on real prices on the consumer market.

However, the mere definition of a living wage alone will not provide a decent wage to the able-bodied population. In order for wages to be decent, it is necessary to increase the level of employment of the able-bodied population in stable jobs, primarily in the manufacturing sector – industry and agriculture.

In general, the Pre-Election Program of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan proposes to take twelve specific practical steps over the next 5 years towards achieving a level and quality of life for all segments of the population that would be comparable with the middle-developed countries of the world. Their implementation, according to experts, is quite achievable.

Mikhail ELSHOV, Political Scientist,

Chief Consultant of the Central Council of the

People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan