Uzbekistan’s renewed electoral system is a key factor in the advancement of representative democracy

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Over the years of independent development Uzbekistan firmly guided by the principles of universal, equal, and direct suffrage in secret voting, has progressively implemented international electoral standards into its electoral legislation.

In 2017, in his first Address to the Parliament, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev suggested that the current national electoral legislation does not ensure its harmonization and proposed developing an Electoral Code that meets international norms and standards. Thus, the Electoral Code was adopted in 2019, incorporating more than 30 new democratic norms for organizing and conducting election processes. The approval of the Code marked the dawn of a new stage in the development of representative democracy in the country.

The parliamentary elections that took place in 2019 after the adoption of the Electoral Code under the motto “New Uzbekistan, new elections”, and then the elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan showed the viability of the electoral legislation, since all the norms of the Electoral Code, consistently and logically structured, as well as interconnected, made it possible to competently organize an election campaign, as observers from international organizations noted.

Meanwhile, the democratization of public administration in the context of elections is still a rapidly developing process.

That is why, at the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, the corresponding amendments and additions were made to the Electoral Code, providing for the formation of the deputy corps of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, based on a majoritarian-proportional basis.

 

Majoritarian-proportional system (mixed system)

 

A mixed electoral system is a system for the formation of representative bodies of power, in which some of the members of the Legislative Chamber are elected on a personal basis in majoritarian single-mandate constituencies. At the same time, the other part is shaped on a party basis by the proportional representation principle.

One should note that Uzbekistan has experience in conducting elections using a majoritarian electoral system, since under such a system members of the lower house are elected in territorial single-mandate electoral districts on a multi-party basis.

Thus, the current Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan consists of 150 deputies elected for a term of 5 years.

Following the innovations introduced into the Electoral Code, now one half, that is 75 deputies will be elected in single-mandate constituencies, and the remaining 75 deputies based on the party list in proportion to the number of votes cast for political parties in a single electoral district.

Meanwhile, to be elected to the Legislative Chamber in single-mandate electoral districts and local Kengashes (Councils), a candidate now needs to receive the largest number of votes. This new procedure avoids repeat voting.

  Thus, under the proportional electoral system, candidates for members of the Legislative Chamber are included in the party list in the number of no less than 75 and no more than 100 people.

 Candidates included in the party list do not have their own electoral district, since the entire territory of Uzbekistan is a single electoral district. The common denominator of the mixed electoral system is that candidates nominated for membership in the lower house in single-mandate electoral districts and included in the party list are approved at the highest forum of the political party (kurultai, convention, congress, etc.).

The new norms introduced into the Electoral Code also suggest that in order to obtain seats in the Legislative Chamber on party lists, political parties need to gain 7 or more percent of the votes. It is this so-called “electoral threshold” that spurs parties to lively political activity. Meanwhile, there is no complete guarantee that all political parties will be able to overcome the 7 percent threshold. In this case, the Electoral Code states that if none of the political parties participating in the elections in a single electoral district to the Legislative Chamber received at least seven percent of the votes, the elections in that single electoral district are declared invalid.

It is important to note that the text of the ballot paper for single-mandate electoral districts remains the same. That is, the last name, first name, and patronymic of the candidate are entered in alphabetical order on the ballot paper, indicating the year of birth and the political party that nominated them as a candidate. As for the ballot for the election of members of the Legislative Chamber in a single electoral district, the name and symbols of the political parties participating in them are entered into the text of such a ballot sequentially in accordance with the order in which they were allowed to participate in the elections.

The process of democratization of public administration involves the participation of political parties in elections. Since only by participating in democratic elections is a political party able to implement the political will of a certain segment of society in the formation of government and taking part through its representatives in public affairs.

In this regard, the updated electoral system consolidates democratic procedures aimed at the active participation of political parties in the electoral process. Such engagement allows political parties to communicate the core ideology of their party to voters throughout the election campaign through their candidates. Elections strengthen inter-party competition and introduce it into the legal field, which is implemented in electoral legislation. It is the formation of a party list and the registration of this list by the Central Election Commission that gives a start to a political party actively connecting to inter-party competition.

In accordance with the Election Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the party list is registered by the Central Election Commission, indicating the last names, first names, patronymics, dates of birth, profession, position (occupation), place of work and residence, party affiliation, personal identification numbers of individual candidates. After registering the list, the parties included in this list, as well as candidates for membership of the Legislative Chamber in single-mandate electoral districts, acquire the status of candidate and are issued a certificate.

All registered candidates and political parties participating in elections have equal rights. For example, political parties have the right to use all types, forms and methods of campaigning.

One of the main features of the majoritarian-proportional system is that it provides flexible mechanisms for filling the seats of members of the Legislative Chamber, formed on the basis of the party list and in place of those who have dropped out.

Under the majoritarian electoral system, if a seat for a member elected in a single-mandate electoral district becomes vacant in the Legislative Chamber, then in order to fill the vacant seat it is necessary to hold elections, which requires certain financial resources.

The situation is different under the proportional electoral system, according to which, if a seat becomes vacant for a member who entered the lower house on the party list in such a case, the Central Election Commission sends a notification of registration as a member to the first candidate who did not receive a mandate, according to the serial number in the corresponding party list, within five days after the vacancy of a member seat.

Thus, the principal feature of the proportional electoral system is that, first, the territory of the country is a single electoral district, second, political parties nominate lists of candidates, third, voters cast their ballot for the party’s list, fourth, the party receives the number of seats in representative bodies of power in proportion to the number of votes cast for it, and, finally, fifth, the presence of an electoral threshold.

In accordance with the abovementioned, the majoritarian-proportional (mixed) system, complementing each other, allows the voter to simultaneously cast their ballot to the party whose ideas meet their needs, as well as support in a single-mandate district for a candidate who will express the interests of voters in the Legislative Chamber.

 

Shuhrat Bafayev,

Chairman of the Committee for Democratic Institutions, Nongovernmental Organizations and Citizens’ Self-Government Bodies

Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan