On 29 May 2023, Tashkent hosted the XIII Congress of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan.
It was attended by delegates elected by party members from regions, members of the party’s Central Council, deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, party activists, experts, and media representatives.
The agenda of the congress included the issues of the nomination of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the program of the candidate.
Sharbat ABDULLAYEVA, Teacher at Tashkent Institute of Finance, Doctor of Economics, Professor:
– Today, political processes are taking place in our country, which is essential for tomorrow. The presidential election to be held on July 9 this year is an essential reality in our country’s social and political life.
According to the Election Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, only political parties have the right to nominate candidates for the Presidency of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
We know Ulugbek Inoyatov as a leader who has a firm political position and puts the interests of society above his interests.
We have all read and familiarized ourselves with the program of our candidate. The program’s primary goal is to establish a democratic welfare state in our country that meets the criteria of social justice, social equality, and people’s power.
As is known, in the renewed Constitution adopted on April 30, 2023, the constitutional principle that Uzbekistan is a “social state” was sealed, and, accordingly, the state’s obligations in the social sphere increased threefold.
For the first time, the state was entrusted with the obligation to improve the quality of life of the socially needy categories of the population, to take measures to create conditions for the full participation of persons with disabilities in the life of society and the state and to exercise their rights.
It was established that the amount of pension, benefit, and other social assistance could be at least the minimum consumption expenses. For the first time, the right of citizens to own a house and the state’s encouragement of housing construction, as well as the rights of our youth to study at universities on a competitive basis at the expense of a state grant, were strictly defined.
Regarding the implementation of tasks in these issues, the candidate’s program has defined important priority directions for identifying the mechanisms of effective performance of the state’s social obligations and establishing a democratic social state.
Expressing that the People’s Democratic Party, along with other political parties, will take part in the upcoming election and that it is ready to fulfill the goals and tasks of the program adopted by its electorate, I would like to support the candidate for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and his program.
Shokhida SHOVKIYEVA, 4th-year student of the State Institute of Art and Culture of Uzbekistan, member of the Youth Parliament:
– I listened carefully to the program of our candidate.
We all liked that it included several proposals to improve the living conditions of the population, especially the comments on improving the efficiency of youth employment, choosing a profession for young people, getting free and quality education, and strengthening the guarantee of work after graduating from educational institutions.
Everyone has the right to a good education, access to modern education. Our country needs educated and qualified personnel like water and air. In addition, the expansion of preschool education, safety and health of children in kindergartens and schools, compliance with sanitary and hygiene requirements, education based on national and universal values, and ensuring high quality and meaningfulness of education are also worthy of attention.
Today I speak on behalf of the students. The program also defines the task of determining the amount of scholarships depending on students’ mastery of lessons and their participation in innovative activities.
In addition, the proposal to introduce the rent compensation system for doctoral students is the same term for our postgraduate students who are struggling with housing and rent problems is made on time.
I think that students and scientists will positively receive the proposals from the program.
I fully support the proposals of potential, educated young people to work more in the system of political parties and other civil society institutions. We are ready to promote and explain valuable ideas to our peers from neighborhood to neighborhood, if necessary, from house to house.
Khalilla ESHIMBETOV, Chairman of the Karakalpakstan Republican Council of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, deputy of the Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, head of the party faction:
– 2023 is a year full of important social and political events in the history of our country. The Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was adopted by popular vote in the referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In the referendum, our people demonstrated their active citizenship position and high political potential and expressed their desire to live in the future country they want.
As active participants in these processes, all of us witnessed the general public's high activity in preparing and discussing the draft Constitutional Law.
It should be noted that adopting the renewed Constitution will strengthen the state’s care for its citizens and increase the efficiency of state institutions.
As a 30-year-old party member, I can say that our party has actively participated in democratic reforms in our country, in all election processes based on transparency and freedom. These processes increased the political experience of the party and strengthened it ideologically, organizationally, and methodologically.
The election is an opportunity for our party. We will bring the program of our party to the people, through which we will have the chance to know our people's wishes, expand the representatives of activists and the electorate, and at the same time, implement our political platform.
As mentioned above, special preparations were made by our party for proper participation in this election.
I must say that active, selfless, and responsible people in the ranks of our party showed courage during the election process, including collecting signatures of supporters of our party. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them on my behalf.
Today, the program of the presidential candidate was announced by our party. In it, solutions and proposals are put forward to the problems and shortcomings that remain in our society.
This proposal is compatible with our party's programmatic goals and requires the coverage of more than 10,000 schools across the country. This, in turn, is an idea directly related to the lives of more than 6 million students and more than 500 thousand teachers.
I believe that the proposal to adopt a program to register unregulated pedestrian crossings and equip them with traffic lights will also help reduce road deaths and create a safer traffic ecosystem.
Based on the above, I fully support the candidate Ulugbek Ilyasovich Inoyatov and his program promoted by our party.
I think that the Chairman of the Central Council of the People’s Democratic Party, Ulugbek Ilyasovich, will adequately represent the interests of our electorate in the upcoming presidential election.
We, party comrades from Karakalpakstan, confidently say that we will fully support the decisions to be made today, fully participate in the implementation of the assigned tasks, and participate in the election process at every stage.
Nigora ESHMETOVA, Chairman of the Tashkent City Council of the People’s Democratic Party, Deputy of the Tashkent City Council of People’s Deputies, head of the party group:
– Through the renewed Constitution, preparations are being carried out to implement reforms in our country with a completely new mentality.
The most responsible process of the political reality at this stage is the preparation for the Presidential election. The People’s Democratic Party has decided to participate in this political event with its candidate.
The important thing is that the People’s Democratic Party has much experience participating in all the elections processes as a political force. True, this was a great responsibility, required to go through difficult paths.
To achieve the goal today, we need to support the candidate.
For our candidate’s actions to be practical, we must work together.
Especially in the localities, the activists of our party should think carefully about each action and take a severe approach. So, it is necessary to take a professional step today. Our leaders in every area are now required to be more active.
Concerning the program, the professional approach in it and the life issues raised are all important.
In particular, the gradual introduction of medical insurance is being promoted.
We are putting more severe demands on the state, the government. But it should not be forgotten that the society has a significant role in this issue. After all, a person’s health, first of all, depends on him. That’s why we need to emphasize and suggest developing a healthy lifestyle and increasing medical culture among the population.
I also supported our candidate for his goals in this direction.
Erkin GADOYEV, Chairman of the Budget and Economic Reforms Committee of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan:
– Any election is a reflection of democracy. In Uzbekistan, our people choose their candidate through elections. This is a fundamental constitutional right.
Over the past period, there have been significant changes in the electoral legislation of Uzbekistan. The role of political parties in elections has increased. They got many opportunities.
Parties compete with each other and serve as the main impetus for the growth of society. Parties are political organizations that promote ideas, give opinions, encourage the development of society, and have the power to control it.
In this regard, our party was one of the first to start working on participation in the election with its candidate.
At today’s congress, the issues of the party’s participation in the presidential election, which is essential for the political life of our country, and the nomination of a suitable candidate are being discussed.
I also fully support Ulugbek Ilyasovich, who is being promoted from our party as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
I have known him for many years. He has sufficient experience and skills in public administration and politics to effectively fulfill the programmatic goals and tasks facing our party.
Today, the candidate from our party, who will take part in the presidential election ahead of schedule, explained the main content of his program. The program has many priorities, and I wanted to express my opinion on some of them.
In particular, the program proposes to improve further the activities of the executive power as the main direction of reforming the state and society and to introduce a mechanism for it to consult with factions of political parties and party groups of people’s deputies in local councils when making decisions on the most critical issues of social and economic life.
It should be noted that implementing this idea will increase the role of political parties in the country's political life and the government's accountability and responsibility. Suppose decisions on important issues for the population are taken in consultation with political parties representing the interests of different population segments. In that case, it prevents situations that may arouse society’s concern and establish an effective social dialogue.
At the same time, it is noted in the program that it is necessary to introduce a system of clearly defining the future social obligations of the state by starting a systematic study of demographic processes. Since the population of our country is increasing by nearly one million every year, it is necessary to switch to technologies that analyze big data using information technologies. Our time demands systematically studying and planning how many schools and polyclinics will be needed in a given area in 3, 5, and 10 years.
At the end of my speech, I thank everyone for the decisions we discussed at today’s Congress, the measures and plans we defined, and the proposed candidate and his program.
Gulnara MARUFOVA, a Senator working permanently in the Committee on Women and Gender Equality of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis:
– It would not be wrong to say that a new page in the history of our country opened in 2023. Our people expressed their political will and accepted the renewed Constitution. It was decided to hold the presidential election on July 9 ahead of schedule.
Any election is an opportunity for political parties. Today, when the environment of healthy competition between political parties is increasingly developing, and their participation in the state and society is expanding, it is essential to take on clear, vital goals and tasks in the population's interests. In this sense, the ideas and objectives set by our party are important as they are relevant to the needs of today’s times.
As mentioned above, ensuring the proper participation of our party in the presidential election of the Republic of Uzbekistan is our most important political task today.
In this process, based on our party's renewed Constitution, it is time that we are fundamentally revising our program and introducing concrete solutions to the current issues that our people are thinking about.
First of all, I would like to dwell on the personality of Ulugbek Ilyasovich, who is nominated as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from our party. He is a person who was in the ordinary teaching profession and worked hard in the field of education. He knows the ups and downs of life well. He has extensive experience in politics, state, and public affairs, is a mature specialist in his field, and has been making a significant contribution to the prosperity and development of our country.
I support that person’s nomination as a presidential candidate from our party and the program presented today. Ulugbek Ilyasovich is a person worthy of candidacy in every way.
The main goal of the program promoted by the candidate of our party in the presidential election – Ulugbek Ilyasovich, is to determine the mechanisms for the effective implementation of the state’s social obligations and to establish a democratic social state, which encourages the implementation of concrete measures towards sustainable development and increasing the welfare of society.
The renewed Constitution stipulates that pensions, allowances, and other social benefits cannot exceed minimum consumption expenses. However, we must admit that today there are questions in society regarding the calculation of the minimum consumption expenditure for the basic life needs of each person. Therefore, adopting the Law “On the procedure for determining the minimum consumption costs” to determine the minimum consumption costs at the legal level in the program allows for calculating the minimum consumption costs based on international standards.
The fact that the candidate of our party is putting forward the initiative to strengthen public control over the targeted delivery of material and social assistance funds allocated to needy persons also serves to ensure that state funds reach their rightful owners and eliminate corrupt situations in the field. Due to the limited resources of the supervisory bodies, the effectiveness of the funds directed to social protection will be ensured only by strengthening public supervision.
This election is an opportunity to strengthen further our party's political position, image, and campaign activity. First, it is necessary to promote our party’s activities, bring our leaders to the political arena, and create an environment where we inform our electorate and voters about the new candidate.
I must say that in the process of the election campaign, we need to effectively use the opportunities of the members of the “Campaign Group”, “Youth” and “Women” wings established under the organizations of our party. In the important political processes before us, every party member, deputies, district and city councils, and primary party organizations should use all their capabilities and work effectively.
At the end of my speech, I wish good health and success to every party member, deputies, district and city councils, primary party organizations, and activists in their participation in the election of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, supporting the draft resolutions included in the agenda of the Congress.
“O’zbekiston Ovozi” (“Voice of Uzbekistan”), 31.05.2022, No.20