Baku, Azerbaijan, August 9
By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:
Uzbekistan invited representatives of the International Republican Institute (IRI) to become observers at the parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan in December this year, Trend reports citing the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan.
On August 2, 2019, ambassador of Uzbekistan to the United States, Javlon Vakhabov held negotiations with the Regional program director for Eurasia in the International Republican Institute (IRI), Stephen B. Nix and other IRI staff where they discussed this topic.
The goal of the negotiations was also to discuss joint measures to enhance cooperation between the Parliament of Uzbekistan and the US Congress.
The embassy noted that Nix praised the ongoing reforms and transformations in Uzbekistan. He stated that the IRI was ready for close cooperation with the Uzbek side in expanding bilateral inter-parliamentary relations.
During the negotiations, agreements were reached on a joint study of the organization of the IRI monitoring mission in Uzbekistan. It is expected that the American delegation will include representatives of Congress, as well as leading experts from the United States and other Western countries.
At a meeting with Nix, the issue of holding a series of joint events in Washington and Tashkent (presentations, round tables) devoted to the upcoming elections in Uzbekistan was considered.
The parties agreed on a schedule of study visits by representatives of the Uzbek parliament to European countries to study best Western practices in the field of parliamentarism.
The first event of this kind will be a visit of members of both houses of parliament of the two countries to Lithuania in September this year, during which it is planned to organize negotiations with representatives of the Sejm and the government of this country.
As a result of the conversation, an agreement was reached to continue cooperation in these areas both at the IRI level and at the offices of members of US Congress, which are members of the Board of Directors of this institute.
The International Republican Institute is a nonprofit organization that proclaims its goal to assist individual countries in building democracy. IRI Board Chairman is The US Senator of Alaska Dan Sullivan.
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