Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Samarkand hosted an international round table on “Civil society institutions and elections to representative bodies” on 9-10 September. It was organized by the Central Election Commission, the Institute for the Study of Civil Society, the Environmental Movement and the Mahalla fund in conjunction with the National Democratic Institute (USA) and the Office of the OSCE Projects Coordinator in Uzbekistan.

The forum was attended by experts from Britain, India, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Japan and other countries, several international organizations, as well as representatives of public associations in Uzbekistan, UzA reported.

They exchanged views on the implementation in Uzbekistan of the concept of transition from the strong state to the strong civil society. The round table discussed the experience of Uzbekistan in enhancing the role of civil society in the democratic renewal and modernization of the country, including in the formation and organization of the representative bodies. The peculiarities of the electoral legislation of Uzbekistan, the participation of civil society institutions in preparing and conducting democratic elections were also considered.

The international forum participants noted that the analysis of the ongoing process of preparations for the elections to the Oliy Majlis and local deputies’ councils, as well as the national election legislation reflected the deep, dynamic and democratic transformations in the country.

The upcoming elections will be held in the conditions of the increasingly active civil society institutions, it was emphasized. This will be ensured by the changes in the legislations, introduced in December 2008, aimed at liberalization and democratization of the entire electoral system, strengthening the role of the legislative and representative government bodies and civil society institutions in implementing democratic reforms in governance.

The experts were unanimous that the increase in the number of seats in the Legislative Chamber from 120 to 150 and selection of 15 seats to the deputies elected from the Ecological Movement, introduction of authorized representatives of the political parties and other innovations in the legislation raised the democratic reforms in Uzbekistan to a qualitatively new level.

The forum participants made a unanimous conclusion that in Uzbekistan all measures were taken to ensure transparency and openness of the elections both in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament and the local authorities.