Greater transparency as new election rules are in place as Uzbekistan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) designated October 24, 2021 as the day of elections for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

ACCORDING to the press service of the CEC the launch of the election campaign was announced at a regular meeting of the Commission on 23rd July 2021. It was attended by leaders of political parties, representatives of civil society institutions and mass media. Presidential elections will be held in October in accordance with the changes made on February 8 this year to Article 117 of the Constitution of Uzbekistan.

CEC Chairman Zainiddin Nizamkhodzhayev emphasized that the elections will be held on the basis of new national electoral legislation in accordance with generally recognized international standards, as well as democratic principles – openly and publicly.

The elections will become a vivid confirmation of the democratic ideas defined in the Strategy of Action for the five priority areas
of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2017-2021 years.

Over the past five years after the presidential elections on 4th December 2016 there have been tremendous changes in the life of the people and the state, society, and national electoral legislation. As noted by prestigious international organisations and experts, important reforms were carried out during this period to improve the well-being of the people in the socio-political and economic spheres.

At the elections held for the first time in accordance with the Election Code of Uzbekistan, on the basis of constitutional norms and international electoral standards, the election of the head of the country, that is, the President of Uzbekistan, will be ensured on the basis of periodicity.

In addition, after an increase in the number of political parties by one, inter-party competition will increase significantly.

Political Observers
It was especially noted at the meeting that during the election campaign an environment for healthy competition and equal conditions will be created for all political parties and their candidates. The work on the preparation and conduct of the presidential elections, including the voting process, will be observed by political parties that have nominated their candidacy, citizens’ self-government bodies, international organizations and representatives of foreign countries, journalists, in particular foreign ones – by thousands of observers.

One of the important features highlighted in the coming elections is communicating to voters and election organizers the essence and significance of the importance of the presidential elections, especially the elections, the Electoral Code, amendments and additions made to the electoral legislation. It is noteworthy that such events, held before the announcement of the election campaign, reached millions of citizens.

At the meeting, in order to timely and effectively ensure the norms determined in the electoral legislation, the calendar plan for holding the elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan was approved.

District & Precinct Election Level Commissions
The schedule defines step-by-step and daily tasks that will be carried out by the Central Election Commission in conjunction with the relevant government agencies, political parties and other public organizations. This is the creation of district and precinct election commissions, ensuring the pre-election participation of observers, the creation of a single electronic voter list, the pre-election participation of political parties, their nominated candidates for President and their proxies, financing the election campaign, election propaganda, coverage of the election process, voting and other work.

The Central Election Commission, as well as election commissions of all levels, organize their work on the preparation and conduct of presidential elections on the basis of the principles of legality, independence, honesty, openness, transparency and publicity.

At the meeting, for this purpose, a decision was made to establish the Press Center of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan and its regional branches, as well as the position of the Center was approved. Seven specialized groups of experienced journalists, lawyers, translators, experts and other specialists will work in the press center.

The press center of the CEC, which will begin its activities in the building of the Palace of Symposia, the Center for Education at the address: Tashkent city, Navoi Street, 1, as well as its regional offices will be provided with modern information and communication technology. Briefings, press conferences, meetings and other events will be held there in order to provide journalists and the public with operational information on the elections.

The press centre will provide maintenance of the web portal “Saylov 2021” of the Central Election Commission, as well as other information resources.