Mr. Kalandar Abdurakhmanov,Rector, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Tashkent & Academician of Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
By Mr. Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future (PRCCSF), Islamabad
The early elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan held on July 9 became a resonant event, widely and in detail covered by foreign media.
Leading news agencies of the countries of Central Asia, Russian news agencies and many others informed about the course of the electoral process and the voting results.
The agencies also reported that the newly elected President of Uzbekistan has already received congratulations from the leaders of foreign countries, primarily the states of Central Asia.
The people of the Republic of Uzbekistan took an active part in the presidential elections this year. 15.6 million people voted, that is, 79 percent of the voters. More than ten international organizations and about 800 foreign observers from 47 countries of the world observed the electoral process. According to the voting results, Shavkat Mirziyoyev , a candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, was elected President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for a period of 7 years with 87.05 percent of the vote.
In Uzbekistan, along with the adopted Constitution in the new edition, cardinal transformations continue, where the highest value is human rights, his freedom and legitimate interests. In the process of building New Uzbekistan, special attention is paid to the compliance of the electoral legislation with generally recognized international standards, the full and broad provision of the electoral right of citizens. All processes in the country are carried out openly and transparently on the basis of the national electoral legislation and the deadlines specified in it.
The first ideas about democracy proceeded from the fact that its most important features are democracy, the equality of all citizens before the law, the equal right to participate in the management of society, and decision-making by a majority of votes. In modern conditions, democracy has acquired new forms, while it retains its main idea – democracy.
The origins of the current elections lie in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. It was there that the fundamental concepts of democracy were born: the rule of law, the election of government bodies and officials, the active participation of citizens in solving state issues. Athenian democracy was direct and immediate. Any citizen theoretically had the right to participate in solving important state issues.
In ancient Greece, open voting and secret balloting by lot were used. The ballot was a bob: white meant “for” and black meant “against”. In Athens, there was another type of secret ballot – the “court of potsherds”: according to it, the community had the right to expel any public figure from the city if his popularity threatened the foundations of democracy. The ancient principles of civil liberty and equality were actively used in the Roman Republic.
Moreover, in ancient Rome, the election campaign began long before voting day. The candidate declared to the authorities about his desire to run. After that, the election campaign began: the candidate put on a snow-white toga, which meant his clear conscience, and went to the squares and bazaars, asking for support from voters. On voting day, each person received a small tablet and wrote the name of the candidate on it and put it in the ballot box.
The history of elections in Uzbekistan should be counted from the reign of Amir Temur . It was during the reign of the Temurids that elective institutions were first formed. Sahibkiran constantly reformed the state system and established a new state administration.
The fate of the state, its rise or fall largely depends on the functioning of state institutions and the activities of officials. That is why Amir Temur created state institutions both in the center and in the regions, consisting of capable, honest and conscious people. According to him, civil servants, especially ministers, must have the following necessary qualities: nobility and glory; intelligence and perseverance; awareness of the situation of the people and the army; contentment, patience and peace.
Moreover, Amir Temur clearly defined the rights and obligations of every civil servant holding a high position. For example, he asked government officials to
constantly take care of the improvement of cities and towns and villages, including the construction of mosques, madrasas, khanaka, baths, caravanserais, hospitals, repair and build bridges, ensure the safety of trade caravans and travelers, demanded their protection from robbers.
Today we can say with confidence: the modern electoral system of Uzbekistan provides a worthy solution to the tasks assigned to it, meets international electoral standards and protects the electoral rights of citizens.
In a narrow sense, suffrage means the right of citizens to elect and be elected. Each country has its own electoral system.
The main principles of the electoral system of Uzbekistan are universality, equality, secret ballot, direct elections, mandatory and periodicity of their holding.
The ideals of freedom, respect for human rights and the principle of holding periodic and fair elections under universal suffrage are essential elements of democracy, which in turn provides a natural environment for the protection and effective enjoyment of human rights.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev has demonstrated himself as a reformer capable of opening the era of New Uzbekistan, where a person is the highest value. He set himself the goal of doubling GDP to $160 billion and assured that he would create more places for students in a predominantly young country with strong demographic growth.
The pre-elected President of Uzbekistan also intends to provide free access to the Internet and supply of drinking water for the entire population, half of whom live in rural areas.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev won the presidential elections in Uzbekistan on Sunday, beating other candidates by an overwhelming majority. The new version of the Constitution of Uzbekistan, which entered into force on May 1 this year, provides for a number of measures to expand democracy and further decentralize governance, including extending the term of office of the President to 7 years, in connection with which early presidential elections were held.
Mirziyoyev’s program, including accelerating the widespread use of renewable energy sources and increasing their share in total capacity from 14 to 40 percent, providing the population with clean drinking water, increasing Internet speed by 10 times, supporting education in schools and creating additional 2, 5 million student places in schools by 2030.
Interest in protecting the environment has also become one of the priorities of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s election program . A plan has been developed to increase the area of forests from 1.6 million hectares to 2.3 million hectares, and work is also planned to ensure the rule of law and the organization of public administration.
The presidential elections in Uzbekistan were also in the focus of attention of the leading Chinese media, such as Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, Global Times , China magazine, Guancha popular portal , CCTV news programs and others.
In particular, the influential Global The Times quotes the director of the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Sun Zhuangzhi that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened the era of New Uzbekistan and leads the country to further development and modernization.
In general, today we can confidently assert that the results of the historic elections in dynamically developing Uzbekistan have been in the focus of attention of almost the entire world media space all these days and have been covered by the vast majority of news sources in many languages.