Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 8
By Damir Azizov - Trend:
New amendments to Uzbekistan's 'Law on Financing Political Parties' stipulate that the state funds not used by political parties during financial year can't be returned to the state budget and should be used to finance those parties' statutory activities in the coming years.
The amendments were adopted by both houses of the parliament in late 2014, and were approved by the president of Uzbekistan on the eve of 2016.
According to the Uzbek law, a political party is entitled to receive state funding for statutory activity, if after an election to the legislative chamber of the parliament's lower house it has received the necessary number of seats to form a faction.
Earlier, political parties were obliged to return the remainder of the unused funds to the budget during one month after the end of the fiscal year.
Amendments prohibiting political parties and their organizations to have accounts in more than one bank, as well as accounts in foreign banks have also been introduced to the law.
Uzbekistan's bicameral parliament was created in 2005. Its legislative chamber permanently employs 150 MPs elected for five years from four political parties and the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan.
The lower house of the Uzbek parliament includes the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan - 52 MPs, Democratic Party Milly Tiklanish (National Revival) - 36 MPs, People's Democratic Party - 27 MPs and the Social Democratic Party Adolat (Justice) - 20 MPs.