Seeing the large-scale, intensive and highly effective democratic changes being implemented in our country, all these are the real results of the rational policy that is being pursued in the long-term in order to consistently ensure the interests of our people and further increase the international prestige of our country. how can anyone be sure.
Seeing the large-scale, intensive and highly effective democratic changes being implemented in our country, all these are the real results of the rational policy that is being pursued in the long-term in order to consistently ensure the interests of our people and further increase the international prestige of our country. how can anyone be sure.
The new renaissance in New Uzbekistan, which has boldly stepped into a completely new stage of its development and is taking bold steps, consistently starting to build a solid foundation of the Third Renaissance, is raising the spirit of our people and strengthening their confidence in the future.
On the basis of such successes, the highest ideas, democratic principles, noble goals and aspirations embodied in our national Constitution, which our nation is celebrating its twenty-eighth glorious holiday these days, are embodied.
The creation of our Basic Law, which is thoroughly thought out and fully meets the requirements of universally recognized international democratic standards, is not only a huge political, socio-legal event in the life of our people, but also a large global event of international importance.
As the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized, the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan is a unique example of the political thinking of our people.
Responsible process
Today, on the eve of this glorious holiday, it is appropriate to look at the history of the creation of our Constitution. It is known that the 90s of the last century were a dangerous and turbulent period for our people. In such a difficult situation, very bold steps were taken towards the state sovereignty and independence of our country, which is the age-old dream of our people, to create and strengthen the legal foundations of our independence.
The chronicle of such important historical events begins in March 1990. At the first session of the twelfth convocation of the High Council, the issue of the position of the President was discussed and the issue of state symbols was discussed. The idea of creating its own national constitution of independent Uzbekistan was put forward for the first time in this session.
At the session of the Parliament of the Republic on June 21, 1990, under the chairmanship of the First President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, the Constitutional Commission was formed, which united 64 members, consisting of statesmen, deputies, and experts.
The Ministry of Justice was designated as the working body for the preparation of the draft Constitution. As I was one of the leaders of this ministry at that time, and I directly participated in the historical processes related to the birth of our Basic Law, I proudly remember the past events today.
The Constitution is an important document that is the basis for all national laws and defines the legal status of the state. Therefore, it was natural that it would not be easy to create. Moreover, it is no secret that at that time we did not have separate institutions dealing with legislation, and the national experience had not yet been formed.
In this complex and responsible process, I remember how much the experience of famous legal scholars, philosophers, and practitioners who acquired deep academic knowledge was lost. The rich experience and high potential of our leading scientists such as Shavkat Orazayev, Anvar Azamkhozhayev, Hojiakbar Rahmonkulov were of great help in preparing the draft of our General Dictionary.
The improvement of the prepared draft was widely discussed chapter by chapter, article by article, verbatim first by the working group, then by the members of the Constitutional Commission, and then by publishing it twice in the press. it means that things are done.
Holy symbol
As mentioned, the draft Constitution of Uzbekistan was discussed not once, but twice - in September and November 1992, and was enriched with proposals, ideas and opinions put forward by the general public and our people. More than 6,000 suggestions and comments were received during the public discussion.
It is also appropriate to say that the experts of the Ministry of Justice, with the participation of legal scholars, deputies and experts, explained the content of the ideas and principles reflected in the projects to the population through mass media.
It took more than two years for all these works - from the creation of the Constitutional Commission and the preparation of the first draft of our Basic Law to its adoption by our national Parliament.
It should be noted that the constitutions of the most advanced countries are not far behind
In the creation of our Basic Law, the national identity of our people and thousands of years of national statehood experience and the experiences of the advanced constitutions of more than ninety countries of the world were taken into account. In it, advanced democratic principles strengthened and universally recognized in the most important international legal documents were reflected.
Therefore, our people consider and highly value our national Constitution, as well as the Flag, Coat of Arms, and Anthem of our country, as a sacred symbol of our Motherland. The day of adoption of our Basic Law - December 8, 1992 is widely celebrated as a national holiday.
Man is the lifeblood
International experts who have seen a lot, talking about the Constitution of our country, emphasize one aspect: "The most important idea of the General Assembly of Uzbekistan is aimed at valuing a person who has a chance to live, and ensuring the interests of the people. . There is great wisdom in the beginning of the Constitution with the words "People of Uzbekistan".
This is a practical manifestation of the priority of the principles of humanitarianism and philanthropy in the politics of our country. Because in the period before independence, that is, in the time when the former authoritarian Soviet regime ruled, the interests of the state were put above everything, even human life.
As recognized in our Basic Law, a person's life, freedom, honor, dignity and other inviolable rights are the highest value in independent Uzbekistan. The state carries out its activities based on the principles of social justice and legality, aiming at the well-being of people and society.
Thanks to the implementation of these constitutional principles, today in New Uzbekistan, everyone feels protected and lives a peaceful and peaceful life. The standard of living of the population is increasing.
Of course, important changes in the fundamental improvement of the life of our people, the provision of human rights, including the right to vote, freedom, the rule of law and social justice, do not happen by themselves in the current pandemic conditions. Realizing this, our people fully support the ongoing reforms and actively participate in the process of changes.
Attention and recognition
The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan will undoubtedly always serve as the main document in the democratic development of the national electoral system and all aspects of the life of our society.
The right of citizens to vote and to be elected, the foundations of the national election system have been strengthened in our constitution. These rules and norms are consistent with the universally recognized democratic principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international legal documents ratified by the Republic of Uzbekistan.
A separate Chapter XXIII of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan is devoted to the electoral system of our country. You will not find such high attention to the field even in the Constitution of all developed countries. In this chapter, the most important principles and essence of all processes related to the holding of democratic elections are clearly defined.
The system of election commissions of our country is headed by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which has the status of a constitutional body and whose main principles of activity are independence, legality, collegiality, transparency and fairness.
On the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in recent years, large-scale reforms aimed at adapting the electoral system of our country to international norms and principles, creating more opportunities for voters and ensuring the freedom of citizens have been implemented.
High performance
The high results of consistent reforms were clearly demonstrated during the elections held on December 22, 2019 to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and local councils under the slogan "New Uzbekistan - New elections". All conditions were created for citizens to exercise their constitutional rights, and voters effectively used this opportunity.
As a result of the elections, according to the constitutional provisions and international election standards, the composition of the representative bodies of the legislative power and local state power of Uzbekistan was renewed based on the principle of periodicity.
As a continuation of the election process, the executive branch was reshaped. The elections were held in accordance with the principles of multi-party and alternative, openness and transparency, as well as the updated electoral legislation, in accordance with democratic standards generally recognized in the world.
More than 70,000 local observers and many international organizations monitored the elections, 825 observers from about fifty foreign countries, more than a thousand representatives of international and national mass media.
commenting on the elections, it is worth noting that they mentioned the word "first time" a lot. It's not for nothing.
This year's elections were held for the first time based on the Election Code. After the implementation of the Election Code on June 25, 2019 at the initiative of the head of our state, the legal basis of elections was further strengthened. In doing so, first of all, five existing laws and dozens of by-laws related to elections were compiled into a single document. It received the status of a law that works directly.
The practice of nominating candidates to all representative bodies only by political parties. The institution of quota allocation for representatives of the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan was canceled while retaining 150 seats in the Legislative Chamber. As a result, five political parties competed in the last elections. A new party - the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan won 15 seats in the lower chamber. This innovation in the electoral law and practice is an important event in the history of modern Uzbekistan.
The formation of a single electronic list of voters of the Republic of Uzbekistan was a completely new practice in the national election system of our country. Information on more than 20.5 million citizens of voting age was included in this list and used in the election process. At the moment, information on 6,720 electoral districts, 10,260 polling stations, and a total of 170,313 members of precinct election commissions has been included in the information system.
It is one of the most important innovations in the national election system of Uzbekistan that people who have committed crimes of low social risk and not very serious have the honor to vote for the first time in the history of our country. In the last election, 4308 such persons exercised their right to vote.
It should be noted that according to the law "On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the improvement of electoral legislation" adopted on September 4, 2019, Article 117 of our Constitution the introduction of the relevant norm was an important factor in this.
The opportunity to vote was created for all our compatriots living abroad. 112,411 compatriots used their constitutional right to vote in 55 polling stations in 32 countries.
It should be noted that in the previous elections, only citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan who had passed the consular registration from the representative offices of the Republic of Uzbekistan abroad could vote.
During the preparation for the elections, about 180,000 members of election commissions were trained in practical seminars and trainings in an interactive manner based on a special program in the "cascade" method from August 3 to December 20, 2019.
More than a hundred briefings and press conferences were held at the International Press Center of the Central Election Commission, and about twenty video-selector meetings of the Central Election Commission were organized.
More conditions than ever were created for political parties and candidates for deputies to hold pre-election meetings, 26 TV debates they held were broadcast live. All this served for the first time in the modern history of Uzbekistan that the elections were held in an environment of real competition.
In order to take prompt measures in cases of violations of the electoral legislation, from December 16, 2019 to January 3, 2020, permanent duty was established in the administrative courts of all regions, districts (cities). Such duties were also established in the branches of the prosecutor's office and internal affairs bodies.
A mechanism has been created to respond quickly to reports of violations of the electoral law in the mass media, social networks, and on the ground by ordinary citizens, and to take appropriate measures in necessary cases.
The fact that 48 or 32 percent of the deputies elected to the Legislative Chamber were women is also an unprecedented event in the history of Uzbekistan. After all, in the 2014 elections, 24 women became members of the Legislative Chamber.
Many more such examples can be given.
International observers highly appreciated the work related to the preparation and conduct of the election. They acknowledged that favorable conditions have been created for voters in all polling stations, especially citizens with physical disabilities and representatives of different nationalities have a high level of opportunity to exercise their right to vote.
First of all, it should be noted that peace and tranquility, tolerance and nobility, kindness, mutual respect, and political and legal culture, which are firmly established in Uzbekistan, were important factors in the successful conduct of the elections.
There is much wisdom in perfection
The world is changing rapidly, the era itself is putting unexpected tasks and urgent problems before countries and peoples, which
all of them require regular improvement of the national election legislation.
In February of this year, the Central Election Commission, in cooperation with local state authorities, held interesting roundtable discussions with the participation of voters, election organizers, and local leaders in all regions. There was a detailed exchange of views on more effective organization of elections, further improvement of legal knowledge and electoral culture of the population.
During the talks, as well as in the conclusions of international organizations, special attention was paid to the proposals and recommendations put forward by ordinary voters through social networks.
In particular, Article 117 of the Constitution of our country stipulates that a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan cannot be a deputy of more than two representative bodies of state power at the same time.
It's no secret that citizens who are nominated as candidates for two local representative bodies at the same time face problems with conducting election campaigns and holding meetings. In this matter, the Central Election Commission received a number of appeals.
Taking this into account, it is proposed to introduce a provision in our Basic Law that one candidate can be elected only from one electoral district and one local representative body.
By amending the electoral law, it is also a reasonable proposal to terminate the district election commissions that hold elections to district (city) councils of people's deputies and transfer their powers to district (city) election commissions.
Based on our national election practice and the recommendations of international observers, a number of similar proposals aimed at further democratization and liberalization of elections are being studied.
Each past election is an important step towards establishing a developed democratic legal state, a free, open and fair civil society in our country.
Summarizing the achieved successes, timely elimination of shortcomings and problems, and further improvement of the national election legislation based on the principles enshrined in our Constitution will serve to raise the aspirations of our people to a new level.
Mirzo Ulugbek ABDUSALOMOV,
Republic of Uzbekistan
Chairman of the Central Election Commission,
Honored lawyer in Uzbekistan.
Source: "New Uzbekistan" newspaper,
