The world experience of nation-building and social development shows that the democratization of society can be achieved only through the effective participation of the masses in the exercise of power through various representative bodies. Thus, parliamentarism is a rapidly developing socio-political phenomenon that is characterized as a unique progressive and democratic system of governance in society.
Parliament is an institution that unites various sectors of society, social groups and conducts vital activities to provide their rights and interests. Undoubtedly, the main task of the Parliament is to unite the various interests of society in the development of the country and the welfare of the people.
Parliament serves as a bridge between the state and the people, depending on the extent of parliamentary development, it is possible to determine the level of development of a democratic society, citizens’ respect for the rights and freedoms, the legitimate interests of the people, and literally civil society.
It should be noted that the new parliament of Uzbekistan, which prioritizes development in line with modern requirements, today operates in a completely new conditions. The Parliament monitoring is established, with special emphasizes on the quality and accountability, to ensure the full implementation of the guidelines and measures, by the responsible actors, approved in the “road maps” for the solution of issues raised by citizens from year to year.
A procedure for reporting and providing information to the parliament and local councils have been established in Uzbekistan, and public monitoring has been introduced in public authorities, including the sphere of economy, banking and finance, public utilities, internal affairs, external affairs, education, health, judicial system. In these important processes, the roles and responsibilities of representatives of political parties, deputies and senators are incomparable, and Parliament is an enormous force that is capable of leading different sectors of society as a whole and lead people to noble goals.
As a result of the gradual transfer of new powers to the national parliament, the growth of legal literacy and culture of our people, the development of political parties on the basis of democratic values, the legislature has been embodying the qualities and characteristics of parliaments in developed countries.
By strengthening the activities of the factions of political parties in the Legislative Chamber, lawmaking and implementation of adopted laws, their practical expression in socio-political life will yield the expected result. This, in turn, creates a solid legal basis for the development of the state, the country and the welfare of the people.
Political parties are known to integrate a given society by developing various ways and strategies for social development. In the life of the state and society, political parties act as a kind of “social shock absorber”. It assists to identify problems among the people and present them to the state level by forming them in an ideological and programmatic manner. The main purpose of social shock absorbers, of course, is to identify, mitigate and bring to the forefront the current problems that afflict the state and society.
Ensuring the transparency, stability and legitimacy of the socio-political system of the state and society depends, first of all, on the creation of an environment of variety and political pluralism. In this regard, a multiparty system and healthy inter-party competition are considered as one of the important criteria.
Healthy competition on the basis of the multiparty system, constructive debates in the parliamentary rostrum, principled arguments clearly reflect the realism of each political party, each faction of the party operating in parliament.
“The National Action Strategy on Five Priority Development Areas 2017-2021 in the Republic of Uzbekistan” has identified important measures to enhance democratic reforms and further strengthen the role of the Oliy Majlis and the role of political parties in the modernization of the country and operations are being conducted on within the framework of systematic implementation.
As per the political forces in our national parliament today, their position and status in the general section, the diverse ideas brought forward by them, the pluralism of generalized programs proposed for the development of the state, various socio-political positions.
Foreign experts who participated in the recent parliamentary elections acknowledged that Uzbekistan’s electoral legislation has been further systematized, a unified Election Code has been adopted, the arena of political arguments and debates has been given to political parties, the powers of party representatives have been expanded.
According to the general outcome of the December 2019 parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan, political parties in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis – Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen – Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 53, Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milliy Tiklanish” 36, Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Adolat” 24, People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan 22 and the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan won 15 positions of deputy.
By itself, the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen – the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan – has become a leading political force in parliament. The main goals of the party includes:
– unite as a political force to present new opportunities for entrepreneurs and businessmen, to work more broadly, theoretically and practically, to defend the interests of a particular segment of society and to secure its future;
– Ensuring the party’s participation in public administration, the formation of views in society, the implementation of political and economic reforms. Actively participate in solving problems related to the socio-economic and political development of the country, enhancing the international prestige of Uzbekistan, maintaining peace and tranquility in our country, strengthening interethnic and inter-citizen harmony. To make a sound contribution to educating our youth in the spirit of love and devotion to the Motherland, to live proudly as our people, our country, our dear Uzbekistan, to respect our path to independence, our values, national and religious traditions, customs, in all circumstances, as well as all nations and peoples, not to allow their values to be discriminated against, to consistently combat against such attacks.
The main goals of the second largest party in the Legislative Chamber – the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milliy Tiklanish” are:
– creating favorable conditions for the growth of national identity of citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the formation and strengthening of national pride, devotion and love for the Motherland;
– to unite the patriots of the country, to mobilize their intellectual and creative potential in the interests of Uzbekistan and to enhance its international prestige;
– to educate young people in the spirit of respect, love and pride in their homeland, to preserve and protect national independence, values, traditions and customs of the people in all conditions, as well as to make an effective contribution to combating attempts to limit its spiritual needs and interests.
The main goals of the Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Adolat”:
– strengthening the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
– accomplish the acceleration of the ongoing reforms in the country, build a legal, democratic state and a civil society;
– decision-making on the ideas of social justice in all spheres of society;
– make a contribution to providing the necessary social protection for the population in poverty.
The determination of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan to defend the interests of people in need of social justice and social protection underlines that its political forces are the left wing of the country. The party considers the preservation and strengthening of the independence of Uzbekistan, ensuring the prosperity of our Motherland, civil and interethnic harmony in the country, social stability, the welfare of every family and the people as the basis of its ideology and political activity. The eternal aspirations of our people for independence and freedom, equality and justice, peace and harmony are the natural sources of the party’s ideology. Moreover, it is based on the principles of solidarity and community, which have always been characteristic of our people and still define its mentality today.
The Ecological Party of Uzbekistan, which has the fewest members with position in the Legislative Chamber, is committed to enhancing the renewal process aimed at ensuring that the current and future generation live in a comfortable environment, improve public health, protect and utilize natural resources on reasonable basis and seeks to mobilize its strength and potential. The party considers the ideology of ”Healthy environment – human health” as its main motto and sets the following program tasks to ensure its practical implementation:
– comprehensive strengthening of public participation in environmental protection and improvement of the ecological situation;
– carrying out systematic work to ensure the implementation of laws and other state decisions on environmental protection, as well as to promote the development and improvement of legislation in this field;
– enhancing the responsibility of government agencies, the public and other structures in the implementation of the adopted documents on the protection of the environment and the rational use of resources allocated for these purposes;
– raising the ecological culture of the population, development of the system of ecological education and upbringing;
– development of international cooperation in the field of environmental protection;
– to make the protection of the environment the responsibility of the state, society and every citizen;
– coordination of the activities of NGOs in the field of environmental protection.
Simultaneously, 7 out of 12 committees of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan are chaired by UzLiDeP, 2 committees each by MTDP and ASDP, and 1 committee by PDP.
An important factor in the specific range of political forces in Parliament is the legal status of the factions of political parties that pursue different political objectives and determine their attitude towards the post-election tendency in government. In this regard, the faction of the political party, which has a majority in the Legislative Chamber, forms the majority in parliament. Simultaneously, a majority in parliament can be made up of several factions of political parties that form a bloc based on the proximity or compatibility of their programmatic tasks.
A party faction in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis may cooperate with factions of other political parties on certain issues that do not contradict the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan and form a bloc, declare itself in opposition to the path and program of the new government. The party may cooperate with other political parties and non-governmental non-profit organizations (public organizations, movements, funds, etc.) operating in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It may form alliances (blocs) with other political parties or establish other contractual relations.
The decision to form an alliance (bloc) with other political parties and movements must be made at the Party Congress or the Plenum of the Political Council. The Plenum of the Political Council shall be informed about the agreements and treaties concluded on other types of relations with political parties and non-governmental non-profit organizations.
Decisions of a party faction in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on forming blocs with other political parties, agreements on common perception or opposition to them shall be considered at the Plenum of the Political Council or at a meeting of the Executive Committee.
A Bloc of Democratic Forces is a group of factions of political parties that combine their efforts to form a majority in parliament, based on the proximity or compatibility of their programmatic goals.
This procedure has been actively utilized in our national parliament since 2010. Agreement on allying the Bloc of Democratic Forces between the factions of the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen – Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milliy Tiklanish” and the Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Adolat” by the initiative of the UzLiDeP faction in the Legislative Chamber was signed in 2010.
Following the elections, in 2015, the Bloc of Democratic Forces was formed in the lower echelon of the Oliy Majlis on the basis of a joint meeting of the factions of the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen – Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan and the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milliy Tiklanish”.
This effective procedure is widely used in the parliaments of developed democracies. Combining efforts with a majority in the activities of the democratic bloc will increase the effectiveness of the parliamentary factions of political parties, as well as the implementation of their programmatic priorities set out in the Pre-election platform.
Another effective outcome, bloc factions retain the right to discuss issues in advance and develop a consensus on them, as well as to act in accordance with their programmatic goals.
In turn, in 2015, the factions of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, as well as the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Adolat” declared themselves in opposition to the parliamentary majority.
It is known that after the elections, on the eve of the formation of a new parliament, the factions of the parties will strive to unite with the aim to have a majority in parliament. In this regard, s the party that won the most positions in the 2019 elections, UzLiDeP has a relatively high chance. In this context, the PDP faction is in opposition to the majority in parliament.
The fundamental differences between the political forces in the country’s parliament, i.e. the ideological platforms of political parties, are also reflected in the current activities. For example, if UzLiDeP adheres to liberal ideas, proposes the transition of the economy to a full market system, the introduction of market relations in the social sphere, the PDP proposes to prevent sharp social stratification and the resulting social tensions. For this, the rules of social equality, social justice surely must be observed. This establishes a socio-political integration of political forces on the basis of equal opportunities and healthy competition.
At the current stage of development, the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan is becoming a platform for impartial discussion and debate on each legislation, a platform for the arguements between different social interests in a healthy competitive environment of political parties, a school of true democracy.
It should be noted that the activities of the Legislative Chamber have significantly revived over the past five years, and, as of today, it is rising to a new level of quality. This, in turn, creats the condition for healthy competition between the party that forms the majority in parliament and the parties that oppose it. Competition leads to development.
At a time when the democratic process in our country has reached a new level, legal literacy, socio-political activity of the population has enhanced, the activities of the media have become more liberal, the country’s relations with the world community have been harmoniously coordinated, a purposeful, healthy competition of political parties that closely links the interests of different social echelons with national interests, plays an important role.