Milliy Tiklanish discussed Electoral Code of Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Today, the Central Council of the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milly Tiklanish” and the faction of the party in the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis held a roundtable discussion on the draft law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On approval of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

As the activists of the party and members of the faction noted during the conversation, at the present time, along with the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 5 laws were also adopted on the issue of elections. However, in law enforcement practice there are a number of difficulties, unjustified duplication of legal norms due to the lack of direct interdependence in the electoral legislation.

In addition, the electoral process and a number of procedures related to its conduct were not regulated at the level of the law, but in accordance with the regulations and instructions of the Central Election Commission. The law does not provide rules for creating a single electronic list.

As President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted, the inclusion of representatives of the Ecology Movement in the lower house of parliament on a quota basis reduces their active and initiative work to a certain extent.

The provision of election lists in the process of early voting instead of a ballot does not comply with the principle of secret voting.

As it is underlined, it is currently prohibited to participate in the elections of all persons held in prisons. Meanwhile, among some of the perpetrators of crimes that are not of great social danger and are not serious, there are also those who unknowingly found themselves on the path of crime. It would be wrong to limit their right to participate in elections as a constitutional human right. .

It is obvious that the solution of this and other issues is one of the main objectives of the Electoral Code. In particular, the draft Electoral Code provides for the consolidation of 5 existing laws: “On elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, “On elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, “On elections to regional, district and city councils of people’s deputies”, “On the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, “On guarantees of electoral rights of citizens ".

Jahongir Shirinov, Member of the "Milly Tiklanish" said: the code is not limited to combining only 5 laws. It introduces a number of innovations that incorporate democratic principles. In particular,:

- institution of quoting deputy seats in the Legislative Chamber for representatives of the Ecological Movement is excluded;

- Legislatively regulates the procedure for the functioning of a single electronic list of voters of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

- concept of a “ballot paper” is eliminated by introducing a single ballot document, both for early voting and voting on election day;

- it is possible to put a voter’s signature in support of several candidates or parties during the collection of signatures by political parties;

- The procedure for electing members of the Senate is determined at the legislative level, with the repeal of the Regulation on the procedure for electing members of the Senate of Oliy Majlis, previously approved by a CEC;

- restriction on the participation in the elections of persons detained in prisons for the crimes committed is excluded, no major public danger and less serious crimes;

- determination of a single day for the beginning of the election campaign of candidates - the day following the last day set for their registration.

As was noted at the event, members of the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milly Tiklanish” actively participated in the process of these discussions and examinations, submitted more than 50 proposals. It should be especially noted that a number of proposals put forward by the party are reflected in the draft.

In general, members of the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan "Milly Tiklanish" participate from the first stages of the preparation of the draft Code. Among the initiators are also the majority, that is, 4 people are members of the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milly Tiklanish”.

During the “round table” it was emphasized that the draft Electoral Code is fully consistent with the program goals of the Democratic Party “Milly Tiklanish”, this document has incorporated not only national experience in electoral matters, but also the requirements of international law.

The participants of the event expressed their opinions on the draft Electoral Code.