Tazeen Akhtar from Pakistan
Tashkent Uzbekistan: 26 October 2024 – The Republic of Uzbekistan is all set to hold 7th consecutive elections for the Legislative Chamber called Oliy Majlis and Local Councils of regions, districts and Tashkent on 27th of Oct 2024. The Central Election Commission (CEC) has established 780 polling stations in Tashkent only.
” My Choice – My Prosperous Homeland ” is the motto under which the election is being held. The CEC announced this motto considering the important role of elections in the life of the state and in order to widely involve the citizens in the activity that is going to play the Central role in the well being of the state and the citizens.
150 deputies (members) of Oliy Majlis, half by majority vote in direct election in the constituencies and half through proportional vote to the contesting parties, who later will nominate their deputies according to number of their votes. Minimum age for the candidates is 25 years and should be resident of the state for last 5 years.
The number of seats in the local Councils is 5695 while minimum age for the candidates is 21 years and resident for last 5 years. The number of the members is determined with respect to the population of the local council. Age for the voters at both level is 18 years.
For more and more transparency in the polling process, the representatives of all contesting parties are provided equal opportunities to set up their desks in the polling stations. There the representatives not only watch the process but help their voters as well to cast their votes correctly.
Notable and impressive is the participation of women in the electoral process with 40 % Mandatory representation given to women by the contesting parties.Moreover, out of 5 names in the candidate’s lists , 2 must be of women.
The Republic of Uzbekistan, as is clear from the official name , is a democratic state in the Central Asia that gained independence in 1991 from former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Since her independence, the state has continuously strengthened and improved the democracy in the Republic through different reforms and legislations.
The Central Election Commission has invited international observation from around the world to monitor the process that has been made fully digital and maximum participatory to ensure transparency at every level.
21 international organizations, 30 electoral bodies, 427 representatives of foreign states including Pakistan are in Uzbekistan, in Tashkent and other cities of their choice to observe the voting process. The observers include experts from different backgrounds including politicians, officials, media persons, independent organizations, think tanks etc. The CEC provides them all facilities to conduct their surveys , inspections and holding press conferences even, in the premises of the official media center in Tashkent.
For transparency monitoring, the Republic made it mandatory in the constitution Article 14, to invite international observers. The article of the constitution provides the observers a number of rights of participation in all events related to the preparation and conduct of elections in the state.
Digitally speaking, the work of Election Commission at all levels, interaction with candidates and other have been transfered completely to digital format. Particularly , the ” E-Saylov (E-Election) informational system has been introduced that ensures transparency, fairness, minimizes bureaucracy and saves time.
Electronic voting system will be tested for the first time at 10 polling stations numbering from 16 to 25 in Tashkent only. Voters will be able to choose between the traditional or electronic form of voting. 37 electronic voting machines will be available there. Such devices are used in a number of countries, including the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Brazil, Singapore, Australia and others. The CEC expects that the use of the EVMs should improve the efficiency of the process and counting the votes, ensuring the optimization of the work of election commissions.
The CEC of the Republic decided to start election campaign on July 26, 2024 in accordance with the Constitution, Article 128. The citizens are looking forward to more empowered Oliy Majlis to take more steps for their prosperity and for more development of their state.
