Carlos Uriarte
Secretary General of Paneuropa España
L
ast October 27, as a result of a process of implementation of the reforms agreed in the constitutional referendum of April 30, 2023 (which was supported by 90.21% of voters for the new Constitution), new parliamentary elections were held to elect new representatives to the Legislative Chamber of the Supreme Assembly. The Uzbek parliament has been bicameral since 2002, and had its first election of senators in 2005. The Supreme Assembly or Oliy Majlis has a system of imperfect or asymmetrical bicameralism in which the Senate (with 100 senators) is the upper house and the Legislative Chamber (with 150 deputies) is the lower house.
In these votes to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis the number of voters was 19,696,344 in the electoral roll of the country of which 9,120,810 are men, 10,683,534 women. Of these 19,696,344, 5,943,345 were under 30 years of age.
In this electoral process, five political parties of diverse ideology participated and have obtained 40,000 signatures, which is the necessary requirement to present their candidates. 40,000 signatures, a necessary requirement to present their candidates, these are: the O’ZliDep Party or Liberal Democratic Party, of the center right, which advocates freedom and economic independence, created in 2003; the Milliy Tiklnish Democratic Party (National Renaissance, founded in 1995), of the right, which defends national unity, the interests of the nation and its culture; the center-left Ecological Party of Uzbekistan O’EP, created in 2019, which advocates a transition to a green economy and the recovery of the Aral Sea in the face of its alarming risk of disappearance; the social democratic, center-left Social Democratic Party (ADOLAT, Justice) of 1995, which promotes equality; and the left-wing party, People’s Democratic Party, PDPU, whose origins date back to 1991. The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan in its article 74 establishes their function: “Political parties express the political will of various sections and groups of society, and through their democratically elected representatives they shall participate in the formation of the State authority”.
As a result, they have led to social and democratic support for the implementation of the proposals of President Shaykat Mirziyoyev: the Strategy of Actions for 2017-2021 (whose implementation was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic), the Development Strategy for 2022-2026 and above all the Uzbekistan Strategy 2030. The latter, very ambitious, aims to achieve 100 objectives within 5 priority areas: 1. the creation of decent conditions for the realization of the potential of each person; 2. ensuring the well-being of the population through sustainable economic development; 3. the conservation of water resources and environmental protection; 4. strengthening the rule of law and a public administration organization oriented to the service of society; 5. consistent continuation of a policy based on the principle of “a secure and peace-loving state”.
These elections were held in accordance with the Electoral Code of Uzbekistan of June 25, 2019 and its subsequent amendment and improvement by the Constitutional Law “On Amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan” of December 18, 2023, which creates a mixed (majority and proportional) electoral system, as well as the establishment of a centralized system of electoral bodies, an optimization of the electoral commission system, an improvement of the activities of the Central Electoral Commission and an increase in the number of women nominated as candidates by political parties from 30% to 40% of the total number of candidates for deputies. In addition, at least 2 out of every 5 candidates on the party list had to be women. Among other improvements, in addition to clearly defining the functions of the Central Electoral Commission and the regional, district, municipal and electoral college electoral commissions, as well as the introduction of a digital system in the electoral process through the “E-Saylov” platform, which has contributed to better organization and efficiency. The electoral legislation concerning elections is contained in the Constitution of Uzbekistan, its Electoral Code and laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, such as the Law on Political Parties and the Law on Financing of Political Parties.
In this sense, according to the Electoral Code, the voting for the Legislative Chamber took place by implementing a mixed electoral system (majority and proportional). Thus, the electoral constituencies were divided into a majority system which resulted in the election of a single candidate (the one obtaining the most votes, similar to the English system) as deputy for such constituency; and, on the other hand, a single national constituency system based on national lists of the political parties which were distributed proportionally (a system similar to ours in Spain for the elections to the European Parliament). Therefore, of the 150 deputies composing the Legislative Chamber, 75 deputies were elected by a direct majority system where only one candidate was elected per constituency; the other 75 deputies were elected on a proportional basis.
The elections, according to the Electoral Commission and according to my own experience as an international observer in the city and region of Bukhara, in everything I was able to visit and get to know, took place without significant incidents and normally. By 5:00 p.m. 71.52% of the electoral roll had already voted, that is, more than 14.2 million voters. Of these, 44.7% were women; the average age of candidates is 47.2 years; 99.3% with higher education; 11 candidates with disabilities. It is worth highlighting the efforts to facilitate the vote of people with disabilities, the development of inclusive lists where 40% of the seats in parliament have been occupied by women. Likewise, better practices and technical standards have been incorporated than in previous elections. It has also proceeded to introduce the new constitutional reforms that have implications in the electoral system. All these aspects have been highlighted by the reports and declarations of both the OSCE and the European Union respectively, where recommendations have been made to continue advancing in the path of improvements that have been taking place in the new electoral system of the country.
Regarding the results, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party won 64 of the 150 deputies of the Legislative Chamber, adding the deputies elected by the proportional system of party lists and the majority system of election in the electoral districts. The Democratic Party of National Revival “Milliy tiklanish” won 29 seats, the Social Democratic Adolat Party – 21 representatives, the People’s Democratic Party – 20 deputies, and the Ecological Party – 16 seats. 74.72% of the electorate turned out to vote, both for the legislative Chamber and for the election of regional and municipal authorities. These data were provided by the president, Shavkat Mirziyóyev, the driving force behind numerous reforms in the economic and legal fields (both institutional and constitutional) which are leading Uzbekistan, the most populous country in the region with almost 40 million inhabitants, to exercise regional leadership in Central Asia as a pole of attraction for investment, It is also a nation that contributes to the effort of regional cooperation and integration with its neighboring countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan), with a very prominent role in the achievement of pragmatic peace and stability in Afghanistan. Likewise, it is an endorsement of its multivectorial foreign policy in a convulsive geopolitical moment that undoubtedly influences the country as it is at a crossroads where there are countries competing for regional influence and that are also working to create alliances such as Russia, China and Iran against the European Union and the United States, which also want to be present, defend and develop their interests in this area of the world. An area of the world where other powers such as Turkey, India, Japan and South Korea also want to be present.
The voting on October 27 also included elections at the municipal level with the election of all the Councils (Kengashes) of People’s Deputies of the regions and of the city of Tashkent, as well as of the districts and cities, and the deputies of the regional Assembly or Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakistan. It should be noted how the role of the mayors or hokim has been complemented by a kind of power sharing between the executive and the legislative level embodied in the local councils, democratizing the local administration.
From November 7 to 12, the voting for the Senate of the Supreme Assembly, the upper chamber of the Oliy Majlis, will take place to elect its 65 members after the last constitutional reform approved in April 2023, 56 elected by the twelve regions, the Republic of Karakalpakistan and the capital, Tashkent (4 senators for each administrative entity by indirect vote of the regional, district and municipal entities form an electoral college), and 9 others appointed (previously 16) by the President of Uzbekistan from among persons of recognized prestige in various fields or have performed important services to the State.
