Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb.4
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
Uzbekistan's Central Election Commission (CEC) has adopted a decision to create 44 polling stations at Uzbekistan's diplomatic missions abroad on the eve of the presidential election, the republican press center on coverage of the upcoming election told Trend on Feb.4.
The presidential election in Uzbekistan will be held on March 29.
The press center's representative also said that working groups have been created in accordance with CEC's decision to validate the signature lists submitted by political parties.
It was earlier reported that four political parties operating in the country received permission to participate in the presidential election in accordance with the electoral law and on the basis of submitted documents.
These parties are: Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (UzLiDeP), the National Democratic Party Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival, People's Democratic Party), the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan Milliy Tiklanish (National revival, DPU) and the Social Democratic Party Adolat (Justice, Social Democrats).
Currently, the parties are collecting signatures of voters in support of the nominated presidential candidate.
Under the country's law, in order to register the presidential candidates, parties should submit signature lists in which the number of signatures should account at least for 5 percent of the total number of voters in Uzbekistan (20.798 million) representing at least eight administrative territorial units of the country. At the same time, in one of the administrative territorial units (Karakalpakstan province, Tashkent), a party can collect no more than 8 percent of the total number of signatures.
The pre-election campaign will start following the registration of the presidential candidates which ends 35 days before the election.
UzLiDeP proposed to nominate the current President Islam Karimov as a candidate for president, People's Democratic Party offers chairman of the central council of the party Hatamjon Ketmonov to this post, USDP - a chairman of the executive committee of the party Narimon Umarov, DPU Milliy Tiklanish - a member of the faction of the party in the parliament, chairman of the Committee on Democratic Institutions, NGOs and Citizens' Self-Governing Bodies Akmal Saidov.
All the candidates will be approved at party congresses to be held in the near future.