Citizens of Uzbekistan actively discuss political and social issues

In modern Uzbekistan, there is an increase in the social activity of all members of civil society everywhere, expressed in a conscious desire to participate in resolving issues, managed by government. The development of civil activity is an objective process accompanying the democratization of the economic, legal and social fields of human activity. These processes are characteristic of New Uzbekistan.

As annual public opinion surveys show, a distinctive feature of civil society as perceived by respondents is the ability of citizens to realize their aspirations to participate actively in the public life of the country, in dealing with issues of public concern, ensuring public scrutiny of state and local government decision-making, affecting the public interest.

As democratic forms of social governance are mastered, the number of actors shaping both social and political decisions increases. As a result, the relationship between the state and society evolves from a monologue to a dialogue, in which the participants are government agencies, the media, civil society institutions and active citizens.

The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his fundamental book “Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan” emphasizes a radical change in the paradigm of the country’s social and state development: organizing the activities of the government on the basis of a new principle: "man - society - state" The efforts of the Head of State to involve civil institutions in the systematic study of the problems of the population and the introduction of modern mechanisms for interaction between civil institutions and state bodies are strongly supported by the inhabitants of the country.

The main legal basis for citizens' participation in political life is the Constitution. For example, Chapter 8, “Political rights”, Article 32 (Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan) states that citizens shall have the right to participate in the management and administration of public and state affairs, both directly and through representation. They may exercise this right by way of self-government, referendums and democratic formation of state bodies.

In Article 34 is fixed, that "...citizens shall have the right to form trade unions, political parties and other public associations, and to participate in mass movements."

According to Article 35, everyone shall have the right, both individually and collectively, to submit applications and proposals, and to lodge complaints with competent state bodies, institutions and public representatives. This trend stems from the State’s intention to engage the public in a constructive dialogue and to address not only local but also national issues. For this to happen, the public must have wide access to the process of governing the state and be able to freely discuss issues of general social importance.

In addition, the legal basis for the participation of citizens in the political life of the country is regulated in more than 200 legislative acts. These include the laws “On Public Associations”, “On non-governmental non-profit organizations”, “On guarantees of the activities of non-governmental non-profit organizations”, "On charity", "On social partnership" which constitute a unified system of support for NGOs and the development of civil society.

Ensuring the active participation of citizens in the discussion of political and social issues is also provided for in the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026. The Strategy, under the first priority area “Building a people’s state by elevating human dignity and furtherance a free civil society”, defines as the 11th objective the improvement of mechanisms for dialogue with the people, which requires further improvement of mechanisms for open dialogue with the people and the expansion of public opinion in important decision-making practices. And also, the establishment of “Digital control” over the timing and quality of consideration of appeals, ensuring prompt and high-quality consideration of appeals that directly affect the daily life of the people, effective organization of the activities of the Civic Chamber, establishing its cooperation with civil society institutions, actively involving in the process of determining solutions problems of concern to the people.

An analysis of these measures indicates that the main bias in determining the content of the National Program “Humane State”, which provides for the implementation of the idea “The state should serve the people”, implies the expansion of the participation of the people, citizens in public administration, the creation of all-round and favorable conditions for the people to express their desires, needs and aspirations, the formation of a unified approach for a convenient and simple, understandable to everyone, mechanism for dialogue between the state and society.

In ensuring the active participation of citizens in the discussion of the most important and topical issues of the political and social life of the country, the state pays special attention to the creation of effective and efficient tools for such civil participation.

In this regard, particular mention should be made of President Mirziyoyev's decisions over the past five years, which have established specific instruments to ensure a new democratic model of interaction between the state, society and citizens.

Such tools include the following.

Firstly, the Virtual Reception of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, it includes modern interactive mechanisms tested in the practice of developed democratic countries for considering citizens' appeals. The Virtual Reception is one of the most reliable channels for involving citizens in the discussion process, including political and social issues. Subsequent practice of the functioning of this democratic institution has clearly demonstrated its effectiveness and, most importantly, its efficiency and timeliness in addressing pressing issues of political and social life in the republic. This tool has established itself as an open source, allowing civil society institutions and all citizens of the country to establish a «bridge» of direct and immediate communication with the authorities.

Secondly, People's Reception of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan - this tool, particularly effective in regions with low levels of Internet access, helps citizens to be actively involved in the discussion of important socio-political issues and to put forward their initiatives to address political and social issues.

Thirdly, the Public Chamber under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which can become the most active platform for a comprehensive and constructive dialogue between the state, citizens and civil society institutions. The objectives of this chamber are:

- accelerating the country's development process by facilitating a systematic and effective dialogue between the state, citizens and civil society;

- stimulating interaction of citizens, civil society institutions with the state in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals;

- increasing the effectiveness of public scrutiny of draft normative legal acts in various socio-economic spheres of public life and holding consultations and public hearings on them and then, using feedback from society, implementing reforms based on the trust and support of citizens.

Institutions of social partnership should be recognized as a tool to ensure the active participation of citizens in the political life of the country and the effective interaction of state bodies with citizens in the design and implementation of programs for the socio-economic development of the country. As an example of successful implementation of projects of social partnership, we can mention such programs as “Obod Qishloq” and “Obod Mahalla”, “Every family entrepreneur”, within the framework of which the active participation of citizens in solving topical and everyday political and social issues was demonstrated.

Modern tools that ensure active citizen participation in political and social debates, created using the capabilities of the World Wide Web, include the following.

Special web portal "Mening fikrim" (meningfikrim.uz), intended for the citizens of the country to introduce initiatives on various issues of the socio-economic and socio-political life of the country, in the form of collective appeals (petitions), subject, in case of obtaining the required number of support votes, to consideration by the parliament - the Oliy Majlis or local representative bodies of Uzbekistan - Council of People's Deputies. Since the launch of the portal, a total of 5,779 collective appeals and 28,497 comments have been received. Public initiatives such as setting of time-lapse lights, allowing tinting for private vehicles, preventing animal abuse, establishing the Shakhrisabz branch of Qarshi State University, the lifting of the requirement of a power of attorney to drive a vehicle for close relatives and others were satisfied through decisions of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.

Regulation.gov.uz, a platform for public and expert discussion of draft laws. At the end of September 2022, 15,292 draft normative legal acts were placed in the system. From January 1 to September 29 of 2022, 88 draft laws were posted on the platform. Many of them received comments with suggestions for change, which were taken into account by the drafters of the bills. For example, proposals for a clearer definition of “social problem” and “social support” were made to the draft law “On Social Work”, as well as proposals for a draft “Entrepreneurship Code”, to the draft law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Amendments and Additions to the Customs Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, to the draft laws “On Sponsorship”, “On Amendments and Additions to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Responsibility of the Republic of Uzbekistan” and others.

Unified electronic system www.project.gov.uz, according to which, firstly, the coordination of the developed draft normative legal acts between all ministries and departments is carried out; secondly, their public discussion; thirdly, openness and publicity of the process of formation and approval of these acts is ensured.

Of particular note is the active interaction between state and society that we have observed in the framework of Uzbekistan's ongoing constitutional reforms. During the initial phase, between 20 May and 24 June, more than 62,000 proposals were received from citizens. In the nationwide discussion of the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On amendments and addenda to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” in total received more than 150,000 proposals through the call center, during the reception of citizens, through the specially created platform «Meningkonstitutsiyam.uz», as well as through traditional ways of appeal of citizens and collectives. These figures are 25 times higher than those that were during the national discussion in 1992. 56 per cent of these proposals were made by men, 40 per cent by women and 4 per cent anonymously. Proposals sent by compatriots abroad were also taken into account and, after a detailed discussion with the participation of the scientific community, were submitted to the Constitutional Commission. For the first time in the history of independent Uzbekistan, social, gender, anti-corruption, linguistic, child rights, human rights and other expertise have been carried out, and official comments and proposals on the draft constitutional law have been submitted to the Department of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this context, it is necessary to highlight the extremely useful and significant activities of journalists and bloggers to make the draft Constitutional Law widely known to the people, to organize wide public discussion of each article in the mass media, on internet and social networks, to study citizens' opinions, to ensure strong links between different segments of the people and the Constitutional Commission.

Openness procedures and accessibility of the law-making activity of the Parliament of Uzbekistan are being improved. On the basis of the priority principle - «the only source and author of the law should be the people» - new democratic procedures have been introduced into lawmaking, which did not exist before. The practice of introducing preambles that reveal the essence and meaning, as well as the relevance of public relations regulated by law, has been introduced. Experts and specialists, together with the initiators of the draft law, actively participate in the discussion of it, and all opportunities are created for them to express their views. MPs are striving to make the work of parliament more open and transparent. They are in constant contact with their constituents, answering their questions not only during the monthly field visits, but also through communication through social networks. Feedback from MPs and citizens allows them to respond promptly to comments that affect the interests of the people. Sessions of the Legislative Chamber are covered online, and with the possibility of expressing one's opinion during the broadcast, this also allows a closer look at the study and discussion of issues of concern to citizens.

Information about the reforms taking place in the country, the nature and significance of the laws adopted is quickly disseminated not only in the media, but also in social networks. As an example, we can refer to the discussion process on speed reductions that is taking place in Tashkent these days. The speed limit for motor vehicles is currently 70 km/h. The Department of road traffic safety of Tashkent Department of Internal Affairs has put forward a proposal to reduce the speed limit to 60 km/h. During the discussion of this issue in the Council of People's Deputies, it was suggested that the issue of speed reduction alone without a comprehensive approach that includes the need to improve the culture of road users, to strictly enforce their responsibility, the quality of the means of recording the permissible speed and fixing violations, improvement of road infrastructure, including the general system of traffic interchanges and road communications, will not lead to quick and tangible results. However, the ensuing wide public debate on the issue on social networks has led to the fact that most active citizens (though not absolute) bloggers and other media representatives agree on the need to reduce the speed of traffic in the capital. These measures are introduced to prevent and reduce fatal accidents and to fully ensure road safety. Thus, as a result of taking public opinion into account, it was decided to reconsider the issue of reducing the speed, which had been introduced by the Council Standing Committee on Industry, Transport, Construction and Communal Services, at the next session of the City Council of People's Deputies. It is now planned to reduce the speed to 50 km/h on several streets in the center of Tashkent.

The introduction of effective mechanisms and tools for the participation of citizens in the discussion of political and socially significant issues contributes to an increase in the level of mutual trust between the state and society, to improving the quality of decisions taken by public authorities, increasing the participation of citizens in ensuring their fair implementation, including through efficient and valid public scrutiny.

Dmitry RAKHMANOV,

Head of the Department of the Legislation and

Parliamentary Research Institute

under the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan