By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

The election campaign in Uzbekistan is entering an active phase. Political parties are announcing their candidates and new election programs.

The First Congress of the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businesspeople – the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan was held in Tashkent, during which the party’s activities over the past five years and plans for the future were analyzed. At the same time, the work related to preparation for the elections was considered in detail.

It was noted that during the reporting period, the number of party members almost doubled from 745 thousand at the beginning of 2020 to more than 1 million 600 thousand people.

Today, UzLiDeP has become a genuine people’s party with the largest number of members and supporters on the political scene of Uzbekistan. It plays a leading role in ensuring a prosperous life.

It was emphasized that UzLiDeP has one of the most striking initiatives –reforming the Constitution and that the party actively participated in this process. The new provisions of the Constitution were developed in strict compliance with the concept of “man – society – state”.

UzLiDeP faction deputies in parliament were especially active in adopting more than 200 laws to implement the goals and ideas of the party’s election program. At the same time, the faction deputies initiated the development of 41 draft laws. In particular, the Tax, Customs, Land, and Urban Development Codes were enriched and further liberalized with norms contributing to creating a new business environment.

An Entrepreneurship Code has been developed, which creates additional conveniences and provides legal guarantees for doing business. The document occupies a special place in the party’s election program.

The draft of the new election program, an essential strategic document for the party’s next five years, was discussed during the congress’s work.

“As a leading political force that has taken responsibility for the full implementation of the Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy, our party is participating in the parliamentary elections with a new program that includes 5 goals – 500 tasks”, the party leader A. Khaitov noted. “UzLiDeP, under the slogan “Together we will build a free and prosperous, powerful New Uzbekistan!” has defined one of the main goals as achieving the well-being of each person, family, and society through sustainable economic growth”.

It was noted that in a short period, under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, historic reforms were implemented to support entrepreneurship, help those in need, pursue a policy of openness, increase the rate of economic growth and the country’s international authority, believes that the only correct path for the development of our native Uzbekistan is a consistent and decisive continuation of the planned reforms.

In the economic aspect, the party has set itself such tasks as simplifying the business process, reducing the number of licenses by half, abolishing about 1,000 bureaucratic requirements, simplifying the tax administration system, and creating fair and equal conditions for paying taxes for all entrepreneurs.

At the same time, the party’s election program defines specific tasks to bring the gross domestic product to $160 billion by 2030, per capita income to $4,000, the volume of added value in industry to $45 billion, create 2.5 million high-paying jobs and increase the share of the non-state sector in the economy in the next five years to 85 percent. 

“In the area of providing quality education, medicine, and strong social protection, the party also puts forward such initiatives as reducing the poverty level in the country by half and training at least 1 million citizens in professions in demand in the labor market in five years, creating an additional 2.5 million student places and thereby dramatically improving the quality of education, doubling the amount of funds allocated annually from the budget for medicine, implementing the slogan “Let every family have its own home!”, building housing for 1 million apartments”, the party chairman emphasized.

At the congress, political council members, party activists, and delegates spoke, expressing their opinions on the party’s activities over the past period and the significance of the goals and objectives provided for the new election program. After active discussions, the latest election program of UzLiDeP was approved.

Issues of active participation in the elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and regional, district, and city Councils of people’s deputies were also discussed. It was emphasized that nominating candidates is vital in the party’s future activities. It was noted that the decisions made in this process are one of the factors determining the party’s success in the elections.

At the conference, 75 candidates for deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan in single-mandate constituencies (majoritarian system) and 100 candidates on party lists (proportional system) were nominated.

At the same time, 43 percent of the candidates are women. All 175 candidates have higher education: 22 percent are entrepreneurs and farmers, 21 percent are teachers, 20 percent are lawyers, 13 percent are representatives of medicine, and 24 percent are representatives of the economy, social, and other spheres. Also, 19 candidates have a PhD degree, and 22 have a DSc degree.

It was noted at the congress that documents on all candidates will be submitted to the Central Election Commission for registration in the established manner.

Relevant decisions were made on the issues discussed.