Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 10
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
Uzbekistan's Central Election Commission (CEC) allowed four political parties to participate in the election to the legislative chamber of the country's parliament, the CEC Chairman Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov said Oct. 9 at a press conference.
"The CEC decided to allow the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal-Democratic Party, the Democratic Party Milly Tiklanish, People's Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party Adolat to take part in the parliamentary election," Abdusalomov said.
The CEC also took into account the decision of the Environmental Movement of Uzbekistan to participate in the elections, the CEC chairman added.
He said all four parties submitted their documents to the CEC to take part in the election and nominate the MP candidates.
The submitted documents included the requests, signed by the parties' heads for participation in the election, the Justice Ministry's certificate proving that the parties were registered no later than four months prior to announcement on start of the election campaign, and the voters' sign-up sheets in support of the parties' participation in the elections.
Each party was required to gather at least 40,000 signatures of voters supporting its participation in the election.
The number of signatures, collected in one administrative territorial entity of Uzbekistan, can't exceed 8 percent of the required number of the signatures.
The CEC created a working group to check whether the sign-up sheets were drawn up correctly or not.
The group included the experts from the interior affairs and judicial authorities, as well as handwriting experts, members of the public, and agencies that conduct population registration, as well as the authorized representatives of each party.
"The CEC resolution on allowing each party to take part in the election was taken on the basis of the working group's report. All political parties' leaders were issued a copy of CEC decision on approving the participation in the 2014 parliamentary elections," the CEC chairman said.
Uzbekistan will hold the parliamentary election, as well as the regional, district and city council elections on Dec. 21, 2014.
The parties will start nominating their MP candidates on Oct. 17, while their registration will end on Oct. 16.
Under the legislation of Uzbekistan, the election campaign will start from the date of registration of the MP candidates, and will end Dec. 19.
Uzbekistan's bicameral parliament was created in 2005. Its legislative chamber permanently employs 150 MPs representing 4 political parties, as well as Uzbekistan's Ecological Movement. They were elected in Dec. 2009 for a five-year period.
The parliament's upper house, known as the Senate, employs 100 MPs elected in equal numbers, that is, 6 MPs from the Karakalpakstan Republic (autonomous republic of Uzbekistan), regions and the city of Tashkent.
Aside from that, 16 Senate members are appointed by the president of Uzbekistan from among the most distinguished citizens of the country.