Elections to representative bodies of state power will be another important practical step in strengthening our national independence and joining Uzbekistan to the ranks of developed democratic countries in the world.
September 20, 2019 will be marked as a historically significant date in the socio-political life of Uzbekistan, which is opening new pages of democratic development and adapting to the world community as a result of humanitarian reforms.

On this date, the Central Election Commission, which has a constitutional and legal status, and the main principles of its activity are independence, legality, collegiality, transparency and fairness, made a decision to announce a new day of elections in the new Uzbekistan. According to him, December 22, 2019 was designated as the day of elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Parliament of our country and the local councils of people's deputies, and the election campaign was announced.

In accordance with the Strategy of Actions and the Concept of Administrative Reforms, which includes the five priority directions for the development of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021, in recent years, the state authorities and management bodies have been updated and optimized in terms of numbers, redundant, non-specific, declarative functions have been canceled, and service in them the quality of the staff is increasing.

Talented, promising, enterprising young people who have thoroughly acquired modern knowledge, diligently studied the experience of developed democratic legal states, joined the ranks of civil servants with many years of practical experience in management, and they strictly adhere to the principle "State agencies should serve our people, not the people". they are kelmokda.

In particular, every employee and employee of the state and government bodies conducts traveling meetings with the people in places, including the most remote areas, and if necessary, goes from house to house, studying the socio-economic shortcomings that have accumulated over the years, the issues that concern the citizens, and solves them in time. is taking measures to eliminate it. Within the framework of popular programs such as "Abod Mahalla", "Abod Kyzhol", "Five Important Initiatives", he is working diligently to improve the country, improve the life of our people, and increase their well-being.

In Uzbekistan, the slogan "Unity of word and deed" is strictly followed in terms of protecting human rights, ensuring legal interests, and improving the well-being of the population.

Freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom of the press, diversity of opinions and freedom of thought have been opened wide. Our country is strengthening the relations of close neighborhood and strategic partnership with the countries of the world, cooperation with international organizations and financial institutions, raising the positive image of the new Uzbekistan in front of the world community.

This year's elections will be organized and held in accordance with the new, integrated Election Code signed by Shavkat Mirziyoyev on June 25, 2019 and put into force.

The new Electoral Code differs sharply from the laws that legally regulated the electoral process. First of all, this code - norms and standards of international law on holding democratic, open, transparent and free elections, the positive experience of developed countries and the history of ancient statehood, our people with its indelible and indelible humane and fair values, such as social justice, tolerance, unity of words and deeds. embodies unique ideas and values. Written in simple and fluent language.

The previous election process was "On the election of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan", "On the election to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan", "On the election of People's Deputies to regional, district, city councils", "On the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan" and "On the electoral rights of citizens". was regulated by five laws "On guarantees". Naturally, the norms in it consisted of scattered, sometimes repeating or contradicting rules. Also, some important issues are not regulated by the law, but by the regulations or guidelines of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which caused a number of inconveniences for users, practitioners, including international observers.

In addition, despite the fact that the deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis are the highest body of state power formed by direct election by the voters, 15 of the 150 deputies' seats were reserved for representatives of the Environmental Movement of the Republic of Uzbekistan, who did not have the status of a political party. In addition to political parties, citizens' self-government bodies also had the right to nominate candidates for deputies of district and city councils.

The existence of such norms

, in turn, did not conform to the democratic principle that "states holding elections should create the same and equal conditions for all participants in the election process."

Such loopholes have been eliminated in the new code. A new Ecology Party was founded in our country. The political space of the country was presented to full political parties. Citizens' self-governing bodies were given the right to appoint observers to monitor the organization and conduct of future democratic elections in accordance with international standards and requirements of national legislation. Until then, this right was given only to representatives of political parties and international organizations and foreign countries.

The newly adopted Election Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan allowed voters to sign in favor of several parties during the collection of signatures by political parties. Previously, when collecting signatures by political parties, there was a norm that "a voter can sign in favor of only one political party". This caused inconvenience to both political parties and voters.

Supporting the participation of a political party in the election is a voluntary choice of the voter. If the voter is familiar with the program and practical activities of the political party and supports the participation of this political party in the election process, then he will put his signature on the signature sheet collected by them. But this does not mean that the voter will vote in support of the candidate of this political party.

Voters still have more than 2 months to support the candidate. During this time, political parties and candidates announce their election programs. Conducts election campaign. He makes speeches through mass media and holds direct meetings with voters. Therefore, even though the voter has signed for 3 or 4 political parties to participate in the election during the signature collection process, the candidate or platform of the political party he likes during the meetings and debates, the voter can vote for the representative or candidate of that party on the voting day. During the voting process, one voter has the right to only one vote.

In the previous laws, it was established that "In case of falsification of signatures on signature sheets, the Central Election Commission shall refuse to accept documents for registration from a political party and shall inform the leaders and authorized representative of the relevant political parties about the inconsistencies found in the submitted documents and cases of deviation from the requirements of the law." was This provision meant that political parties could not participate in the election. There was no provision to allow the parties to rectify the situation. According to the newly adopted code, political parties were given the right to correct inconsistencies and errors found in the documents within two days and to resubmit them to the Central Election Commission. The norm, which meets these democratic requirements, further strengthened the possibility of political parties to participate in the elections.

According to the previous laws, the parties could have only one observer in the polling stations and during the counting of votes on the election day, but this code has removed such a restriction. This also serves to increase openness, transparency, and public control. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to expand the ranks of supporters of political parties, and for observers to exercise this power by taking turns rather than standing still at the polling station for a day.

The rights of the authorized representative of the political party were also expanded in the Code. Now, the authorized representative has the right to participate in the meetings of the election commission, in the handing over of documents, in checking that the signature sheets are filled in correctly, and in counting the votes at the polling station. In the previous laws, only his right to participate in the counting of votes at the polling station was recorded, and it was stipulated that the party appoints an authorized representative only among its members.

If the previous laws stipulated that citizens who have been declared incompetent by the court, as well as persons detained in places of deprivation of liberty by a court sentence, cannot be elected and do not participate in the election, this code has left the norm that they cannot be elected, and says that "they do not participate in the election." sentence omitted.

According to Article 5 of the Code, citizens who have been declared incompetent by the court, as well as persons detained in places of deprivation of liberty by the court's verdict for committing serious and extremely serious crimes, shall not participate in the election.

has been set. With this, the right to participate in the election, that is, to vote, was created for persons detained in places of deprivation of liberty by the court's verdict for committing a crime with a low social risk. This made it possible to strengthen the possibility of establishing polling stations in places of deprivation of liberty in Articles 10 and 27 of the Code. All this indicates that the principle of universal suffrage has been more widely ensured, and the requirements of international standards have been implemented.

The code specifies the mechanisms for ensuring equal voting rights, and it is noted that the election campaign starts from the morning of the last day for the registration of candidates. In the previous laws, it was established that the election campaign starts from the date of registration of candidates for deputy by the Central Election Commission. This would lead to candidates campaigning at different times, some earlier and some later.

At first, citizens' voting procedure was limited, that is, the voter put only one sign - "cross" in the empty square located on the right side opposite the last name of the candidate he was voting for. In the code, citizens' voting opportunities were further expanded, and the voter had the opportunity to put one of three symbols: "+" or "˅" or "x" in the empty square located on the right side of the surname of the candidate he is voting for.

In order to further guarantee the voting rights of citizens, Article 7 of the Code stipulates that "Secret voting is ensured by creating appropriate conditions that exclude the possibility of controlling the voter's will in any way."

In order to guarantee the constitutional rights of persons with disabilities regarding elections, Article 31 of the code states that ballot papers can be prepared based on the Braille alphabet, Article 49 states that local government bodies are responsible for creating the necessary conditions for persons with physical disabilities, Article 50 states that polling stations should be light and spacious. It was noted that there should be a separate entrance and exit, as well as ramps for people with physical disabilities.

The Code also stipulates that voting will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the election day. In the previous laws, it was set to start at 6:00 a.m., which caused a number of inconveniences to the members of the election commission. If we take into account that the election will be held in December, it would be dark at this time.

In general, there are more than thirty democratic innovations and changes between the main norms of the new Election Code and the norms of the previous electoral legislation. In the process of organizing and conducting elections, they are certainly applied to our political and legal life.

Equal conditions will be created for political parties in the upcoming elections for the Oliy Majlis Legislative Chamber, the Dzhokorgi Council of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the People's Deputies for regional, district and city councils. In recent years, the political and legal culture of our people has improved, and their social activity is increasing. This, in turn, means that serious demands will be placed on the political parties and on the candidates nominated by them. On the other hand, healthy competition between political parties during the pre-election campaign indicates that it will be more serious than the previous elections.

In short, the democratic processes in Uzbekistan have become irreversible and inevitable. The elections to the Parliament and local councils of our country on December 22 of this year will be another important practical step in strengthening our national independence and joining Uzbekistan to the ranks of developed democratic countries in the world. It will open the door of new opportunities for all our people, our voters, especially our youth to express their aspirations.

The Central Election Commission, regional, district, city election commissions, as well as district and precinct election commissions will conduct upcoming elections at a high level, in accordance with the norms of international law, the requirements of national legislation, the legality, equality, freedom, generality, openness and transparency of democratic elections. mobilizes all knowledge, opportunities and experience to organize and conduct in full compliance with humanitarian principles such as justice.

Khudoyar MAMATOV,
Head of the Secretariat of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, doctor of legal sciences, professor