OREANDA-NEWS. December 28, 2009. 135 election districts, consisting of over 8,400 poling stations, opened across Uzbekistan at 6 am on Sunday for election of deputies of the Legislative Chamber. A total of 17,215,700 people are on the list of eligible voters.

Candidates from the social-democratic party Adolat (Justice), democratic party Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival), Liberal-Democratic Party (UzLiDeP) and the People’s Democratic Party are participating in the elections to the Legislative Chamber.

The 2009 parliamentary elections are an important stage in the further democratization of the society, and renewal and modernization of the country. In the process of building a democratic state in Uzbekistan, the principle “from strong state to strong civil society” is being consistently implemented. As President Islam Karimov said at the celebrations of the 17th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, all reforms of the election system are aimed at guaranteeing transparency, freedom and justice of the election process.

The elections of 2009 are being held in the qualitatively new political and socioeconomic conditions. The role of the two-chamber parliament and of the representative bodies of state authority in the regions has expanded and strengthened. The activity of the political parties and the level of inter-party competition have significantly increased.

To increase the level of the law-making activities, the number of the deputies’ seats in the lower chamber of the parliament was increased from 120 to 150. Only political parties now have the right to nominate candidates to deputies. An institute of the political party representative was introduced. This person can participate during the vote counting at polling stations. The possible number of the authorized representatives of the candidates has been increased from 5 to 10.

Taking into consideration the importance of the issues of environmental protection and people’s health, 15 seats in the Legislative Chamber will be given to deputies elected from the Environmental Movement. The deputies from the Environmental Movement will be elected on the voting day by the movement’s higher body – the Conference, in which delegates from all regions of the country will participate.

The Central Election Commission registered more than 270 observers from 36 states and four international organizations, including OSCE ODIHR, CIS Executive Committee, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The citizens of Uzbekistan will realize their voting right today. The further pace of wide-scale reforms implemented in the country depends on the choice the people make.