CEC approves action plan to further improve public legal culture

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 7 October 2016, the Republican Press Center for the coverage of presidential elections in Uzbekistan hosted a meeting of the Central Election Commission in the format of a videoconference.

Members of district electoral commissions formed for the elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan took part in the event from distance in online mode. The occasion was attended by representatives of political parties participating in the elections, as well as the media.

Participants of the meeting chaired by the head of the Central Election Commission Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov discussed issues related to preparations for the elections.

The event served to deliberate on the draft Program of Activities to further elevate the legal culture of voters. The action plan was worked out on the basis of proposals from nongovernmental organizations, mass media and other civil society institutions.

It was noted that the adoption of the program envisages the conduct of extensive awareness activities among the electorate about the nature and significance of the national electoral system shaped in the years of independence, of the Law on Elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the amendments and addenda introduced into it in recent years, resolutions of the Central Election Commission regulating election issues, along with the rights and freedoms of voters.

Activities are projected to be carried out in the form of roundtables, seminars, meetings, interviews, conferences, trainings, as well as publications in the media articles, shows on television and radio, various brochures, flyers and other materials. The program is aimed at the general population, in particular the women, young people, including those voting for the first time, the elderly, persons with disabilities, military service people, representatives of citizens’ self-government bodies, working collectives, educational institutions, as well as citizens living abroad.

The Kamolot Public Youth Movement, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, Mahalla charitable public fund, the Republican Interethnic Cultural Center and other institutions of civil society are intending to conduct various activities, in the form of social partnership with public authorities and administrations, in order to further improve the legal culture and electoral activeness of citizens. The social actions are entitled “My ballot is the future of my country”, “I will vote myself”, “Everyone has a choice in our family”, “We have the right to choose”, “Find yourself in the list of voters”, “In a single family”, among others.

All these activities are expected to be widely covered in the media.

The meeting participants were presented with reports of the chairpersons of 7th Samarkand, 9th Surkhandarya and 11th Ferghana district election commissions about the preparations underway for the elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was noted that the district election commissions have undertaken certain amount of works concerning the formation of polling stations for the forthcoming elections. It should be noted that to date, 9,376 polling stations have been established in the country and abroad. The district election commissions have started to shape the membership of precinct electoral commissions.

The meeting participants also discussed other issues relating to the powers of the Central Election Commission. The CEC adopted respective resolutions on the issues deliberated on.