The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
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TYPE
Original Research
PAGE NO.
6-11
10.37547/tajpslc/Volume07Issue02-02
OPEN ACCESS
SUBMITED
06 December 2024
ACCEPTED
28 January 2025
PUBLISHED
10 February 2025
VOLUME
Vol.07 Issue02 2025
CITATIO N
Nuriddin Sotivoldiyev. (2025). Key directions of national parliamentarism
in new Uzbekistan. The American Journal of Political Science Law and
Criminology, 7(02), 6
–
11.
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume07Issue02-02
COPYRIGHT
© 2025 Original content from this work may be used under the terms
of the creative commons attributes 4.0 License.
Key directions of national
parliamentarism in new
Uzbekistan
Nuriddin Sotivoldiyev
Chief Researcher of the Parliamentary Research Institute under the
Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
Uzbekistan
Abstract:
The article provides a comprehensive analysis
of the evolving landscape of parliamentary democracy
in Uzbekistan amid rapid economic, political, and social
reforms. The study underscores the transformative
vision of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, whose initiatives
have redefined the nation’s legislative framework by
ensuring fundamental rights, human dignity, and the
inviolability of private property. It examines the
adoption of a new constitutional framework alongside
strategic documents such as the “Uzbeki
stan-
2030”
Strategy, which collectively outline short-, medium-,
and long-term national development goals. Emphasis is
placed on modernizing the lawmaking process through
the introduction of innovative democratic procedures,
enhanced parliamentary oversight, and the effective
use of information and communication technologies to
foster public debate and citizen engagement.
Furthermore, the article highlights the strengthening of
inter-parliamentary cooperation and the deepening ties
between deputies and their constituencies, which have
resulted in increased transparency and responsiveness
of the legislative div. Overall, the analysis
demonstrates how the integrated reform efforts are
consolidating a modern, accountable, and inclusive
parliamentary institution that not only mirrors the
aspirations of Uzbekistan’s diverse society but also
paves the way for sustainable national development.
Keywords:
Parliamentary
democracy,
legislative
reform,
democratic
transformation,
public
participation,
constitutional
modernization,
international cooperation.
Introduction:
In recent years, Uzbekistan has been
rapidly getting onto a new stage of development. The
democratic image of the country is changing. Economic,
political, social reforms and transformations are taking
place.
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The main thing is that in our country the basic
fundamental rights and freedoms of each person have
become truly ensured. In particular, respect for human
rights, ensuring the inviolability of private property,
and guaranteeing freedom of speech are universal
values that shape the content of the activities of state
bodies.
The most important thing is that such principles and
concepts as "human dignity", "man - society - state",
"state - for man", "enhancement of human dignity",
put forward by the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, deeply penetrate our
real life. We are all witnesses of the fact that in
Uzbekistan, regardless of the sphere or industry, the
goal of the large-scale reforms being implemented is to
glorify human dignity, to find solutions to the problems
that concern our people.
Analyzing the achievements and milestones achieved
over the past period, we can confidently say that the
approach that the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev uses in his work, and
this is a manifestation of sensitivity and attention to
any issue of state and public life, the solution of these
issues based on the primary assessment of the
opinions, demands and wishes of our people, fully
justifies itself today.
The Action Strategy, the Development Strategy and the
Strategy "Uzbekistan-2030", initiated by the President
of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev,
reliably defined short-term, medium-term and long-
term goals and guidelines for the comprehensive
development of all spheres of our country. In
particular, the practice of annual adoption of state
programs aimed at the effective and consistent
implementation of the tasks defined in the framework
of the Action Strategy for the Five Priority
Development Areas of the Republic of Uzbekistan in
2017-2021 became the cornerstone that laid the
foundation
for
breakthrough
reforms.
The
Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan for
2022-2026 defines what the development trends,
priority areas and goals for the further development of
Uzbekistan should be. The Uzbekistan-2030 Strategy
has become a single comprehensive conceptual
document incorporating 100 main goals. The goals
defined in this strategy have shaped the need to create
a new constitutional and legal climate that meets the
high requirements of the reforms and transformations
carried out in our country. April 30, 2023, undoubtedly,
a huge historical event took place in the life of our
country. For the first time in the history of our
statehood, a new version of the Constitution of the
Republic of Uzbekistan was adopted on the basis of a
national referendum. Strategic program documents
and constitutional reforms prepared and implemented
taking into account the initiatives, demands, proposals
and recommendations of our people have created the
basis for achieving extremely important positive results
in the activities of the chambers of the Oliy Majlis. Over
the past short period, the role and significance of the
representative div elected by the people
–
the
parliament
–
in the socio-political life of our country
have changed radically.
Laws are of vital importance,
their author is our great and noble people.
It is impossible to imagine a state based on the rule of
law without lawmaking. The principle of "Uzbekistan is
a state based on the rule of law" was enshrined in the
new version of the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan. This demonstrates the importance and
significance of ensuring the acceptability, improvement,
nationality and effectiveness of legislation.
It should be noted that lawmaking consists of a complex
set of methods and tools (means). It covers the entire
process from identifying the need for it in society to the
adoption of a legislative act and its implementation.
In order to fully legally support the intensive reforms
being implemented today, the process of implementing
lawmaking activities is also being improved. Because the
successful implementation of reforms largely depends
on the quality of the lawmaking process.
Considering that at the new stage of Uzbekistan's
development there are very urgent tasks in the field of
rulemaking, much attention is paid to further improving
the quality of the work of the lower house in the field of
lawmaking.
A number of new democratic procedures were
introduced based on the priority principle that "the only
source and author of the law should be the people." The
procedure for public discussion of draft laws in the
lower house of parliament has been established.
Particular attention is paid to the adoption of laws of
direct action, that is, those that do not require the
development
of
additional
acts
for
their
implementation.
Today, in order to create a legal basis for consistent
reforms implemented in our country, cases of
amendments and additions to the current legislation
have become more frequent. An important issue is to
convey to the population the real essence of such laws
in a simple and understandable form, the organization
of the correct application and interpretation of norms
by representatives of law enforcement practice.
Therefore, the practice of including in the introductory
parts of laws introducing amendments and additions to
the current legislation, a preamble containing an
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explanation of the need, motives and purposes of its
adoption, as well as revealing their essence and
meaning, has been introduced.
At the same time, a revision of the entire legal
framework of the legislative process of a separate
sphere is carried out and a number of comprehensive
laws are adopted. This serves to ensure the
systematization and comprehensiveness of the
legislative framework.
The Legislative Chamber is turning into a real "school
of democracy", a platform for impartial debates and
discussions on each bill. Along with representatives of
project initiators, ministries and departments, industry
experts, specialists and scientists actively participate in
the discussion of draft laws; all opportunities are
created for them to express their opinions.
Draft laws are submitted for public discussion before
being submitted to the lower house of parliament;
proposals received from society are comprehensively
studied. Particular attention is paid to the introduction
of modern methods of involving the population,
including
information
and
communication
technologies. The Portal for the discussion of draft
regulatory legal acts (regulation.gov.uz) is in operation.
At the same time, special attention is paid to ensuring
broad public participation in the process of considering
draft laws in the Legislative Chamber, taking into
account the wishes of citizens, and holding open
discussions among the population. In particular, a
special procedure for public discussion of draft laws
has been adopted, within the framework of which local
deputies organize discussions of draft laws among
voters on an ongoing basis.
Today, both the scale of legislative activity and the
volume of work of the Legislative Chamber are
synchronized with the reforms carried out in our
country. For example, in 2016, 19 laws were adopted
and sent to the Senate, and in 2023 this number
became 99, which confirms our words.
A practice is developing of discussing bills mainly in
factions of political parties and committees of the
Legislative Chamber. This practice is of great
importance when finalizing bills with the participation
of representatives of subjects of legislative initiative,
industry specialists, experts and scientists, in
particular, this allows for an even more complete
expression of the interests of voters in the adopted
legal acts, and also serves to ensure the effective
implementation of these laws.
At the same time, within the framework of reforms
carried out on the basis of the “Uzbekistan –
2030”
strategy, legislation regulating certain sectors is being
revised, and based on the results of the revision, a
number of comprehensive laws are being adopted.
In particular, these include such laws as "On the
Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of
Uzbekistan
for
Children's
Rights
(Children's
Ombudsman)", "On the Privatization of State Property",
"On the Status of a Teacher". Considering that the
creativity of norms is the main factor in the
implementation of today's reforms, its further
improvement is of great importance. After all, the
comprehensive improvement of the adopted laws
serves to improve the well-being of our people, and to
ensure their rights and freedoms even more fully.
The effectiveness of
parliamentary control is ensured
In organizing the control and analytical activities of the
Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, first of all, special
attention is paid to effective parliamentary monitoring
of the implementation of the goals defined in the State
Program for the Implementation of the Development
Strategy of the New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026 in the
"Year of Caring for People and Quality Education", as
well as in the State Program for the Implementation of
the Strategy "Uzbekistan - 2030" in the "Year of Support
for Youth and Business".
Based on the direct initiatives and ideas of the Head of
our state, special attention is paid to the radical
improvement of the control and analytical activities of
the parliament. Its legal framework is being
strengthened. New forms of parliamentary control are
being introduced.
In particular, the "Government Hour" institute has been
introduced in the Legislative Chamber work, within the
framework of which the answers of government
members to questions from deputies are heard. Since
2019, the practice of considering candidates for
membership in the Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting of
the lower house has been introduced. The State Budget
Department, created in the lower house, serves to
establish effective control over the formation and
execution of the budget.
At the same time, it would not be an exaggeration to say
that based on the new version of the Constitution of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, the control activities of the
parliament have moved to a completely new qualitative
level.
Analysis shows that most of the innovations introduced
into the updated Constitution and related to
parliamentary activities are aimed at strengthening the
control activities of the lower house of parliament.
For example, in order to eliminate parallelism and
duplication, the joint powers of the Legislative Chamber
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and the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of
Uzbekistan,
including
those
related
to
the
performance of oversight functions, were revised.
It should be recognized that parallelism in the
implementation of control activities of the chambers of
the Oliy Majlis negatively affected the efficiency of
state bodies and reduced the effectiveness of
parliamentary control measures. For example, it has
been established that requests are repeatedly sent to
the same department and hearings of their heads are
repeatedly held on them (in 2020, 4 requests were sent
to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and 6 hearings of the
leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were
held). There are cases of repeated studies on the same
issues in the same regions (in the Andijan region in
2021, the chambers conducted 8 studies, during this
period, 1-2 studies were conducted in other regions).
Another important point, enshrining in the
Constitution as a joint power of the chambers of the
Oliy Majlis is the determination of the maximum
amount of the public debt of the Republic of
Uzbekistan.
Previously, these powers were not defined at the
Constitutional level; they were regulated by legislative
norms. For example, the powers of the Oliy Majlis to
determine the maximum amount of public debt are
enshrined in the Budget Code (Article 152), in the Law
"On External Borrowing" (Article 4). Based on this, the
determination of the maximum amount of public debt
was included in the scope of general powers of the
chambers of the Oliy Majlis. In addition, in order to
strengthen the role of Parliament in the fight against
corruption, it was decided to consider the National
Report on the Fight against Corruption in the Republic
of Uzbekistan.
Also, in order to increase the effectiveness of
parliamentary investigation, ensure the involvement
and participation of both chambers of parliament in
this investigation, it was envisaged that parliamentary
investigations will be carried out only with the consent
of both chambers.
Such reforms of parliamentary activity, especially the
introduction of such forms of accountability,
fundamentally
increase
the
openness
and
responsibility of the government. Issues raised by the
local population are brought to the attention of the
government.
During the implementation of parliamentary control,
special attention was paid to the development of the
relevant sphere, the development of specific proposals
to eliminate existing shortcomings, and a critical
assessment of the work of officials. This serves to
further improve the effectiveness of the work of
members and officials of the government, ultimately
ensuring citizen satisfaction with the activities of state
bodies, and improving the well-being of our people.
Interest of the electorate and voters
Political parties are a significant force leading society to
development and presenting bold ideas and initiatives
aimed at the well-being of people. In turn, the div
promoting the interests of political parties are their
factions in the Legislative Chamber.
In the legislative activities of factions, an important
place is occupied by the institution of "consultations
with the electorate", created in order to ensure the
popular norms of bills and increase their effectiveness
in further improving the life of society.
Opinions and proposals received from the regions on
bills are summarized by political parties and considered
at meetings of factions. As a result, the interests of
voters and the electorate of the party are reflected in
each bill discussed in the Legislative Chamber. In
addition, factions have the opportunity to demonstrate
their principled positions when discussing bills.
After all, as the Head of State noted, deputies will be
able to justify the trust of voters only if they show their
firm position on each bill submitted for discussion.
From this point of view, the practice carried out in this
direction has significantly increased the level of inter-
factional competition that takes place during the
discussion of bills under consideration in the Legislative
Chamber.
Representatives of the people have become true
exponents of the people's will.
One of the most important areas of activity of the
deputy corps is expanding ties with voters, identifying
the problems of the population and solving them
through the effective use of forms of parliamentary
control.
The initiatives of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoyev to improve the mechanisms
for establishing strong ties between deputies and voters
give the parliament the opportunity to deeply study the
problems of concern to the population, to be a bridge
between the people and state institutions and fully
express the interests of voters.
In the time since the start of breakthrough reforms, the
priority in the activities of people's representatives has
become the principle according to which it is not voters
who should go to their elected representatives, but
deputies who should go to their voters, and continuous
dialogue with the population has risen to a new
qualitative level.
Previously, deputies traveled to meet with voters three
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or four times a year, but now the last week of each
month is allocated for deputies to work in their
constituencies. Being an important area of
comprehensive and complete satisfaction (expression)
of voters' interests, this mechanism has formed a
stable order that ensures that deputies receive
information "first-hand" about the needs, problems
and real state of affairs at the local level directly from
their voters.
Deputies, during their activities in their constituencies,
inform voters about the progress of large-scale
reforms implemented within the framework of the
implementation of the Strategy "Uzbekistan-2030",
the legislative and control and analytical activities of
the Legislative Chamber. They convey the essence and
significance of newly adopted laws.
People's deputies not only study the problems and
shortcomings reported by citizens, but also pay special
attention to studying the interests of the population
and public opinion on important issues of public life
that require their solution.
Deputies in their constituencies have established
permanent communication with the territorial
People's Reception Offices of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan. During the visiting activities of
deputies in their constituencies, joint receptions of
citizens are organized in cooperation with the People's
Reception Offices. Thus, during 2023, more than 12.5
thousand citizens were received. In addition, public
discussions of some bills under consideration in the
Legislative Chamber were organized at the local level,
following the discussion, opinions and proposals
received from the population were received and
considered. These opinions and proposals were used
to improve the bills. In total, in 2023, deputies visited
5,336 households and held 4,191 meetings in
constituencies. Direct meetings and dialogues were
organized with more than 104.8 thousand citizens,
including more than 9.5 thousand entrepreneurs,
deputies got acquainted with the activities of 2,527
social facilities.
Such activities of deputies at the local level allow
timely identification and elimination of problems and
shortcomings arising in society that concern voters and
the population. In addition, during their activities in the
districts, the deputies of the Legislative Chamber
provide ongoing practical support for the effective
functioning of local Kengashes of People's Deputies,
the work of their standing committees, party groups
and secretariats created under the Kengashes. This, in
turn, is of great importance for the further
development of mutual cooperation between the
chambers of the Oliy Majlis and local Kengashes, and
their full performance of the functions of representative
bodies.
Openness and transparency have become the main
criteria
In our country, systematic work is being carried out to
liberalize all spheres of society, to establish the
principles of openness and transparency. Openness and
transparency have become the main criteria for the
activities of the parliament; they are harmoniously
combined with the reforms and updates that are being
implemented in our country at a new stage of its
development.
Today, official pages of the chambers of parliament
under the name "Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis"
have been opened in social networks and the video
hosting site "YouTube", through which meetings of the
Legislative Chamber are broadcast live.
The activity of elected representatives in social
networks plays an important role in closer
communication with voters, studying the problems of
the population, and most importantly, in promptly
introducing changes to draft laws and current
legislation.
Live broadcasts of meetings of the Legislative Chamber
undoubtedly increase the interest of our people and the
general public in the process of discussing and adopting
bills in the lower house.
As a result of live broadcasts of the meetings, the public
expressed many opinions and proposals concerning the
issues discussed in the Legislative Chamber.
It should be noted that today a completely new system
for taking into account the opinions of citizens
expressed by them during the discussion of bills is being
formed in the Legislative Chamber.
Undoubtedly, the proposals put forward by the public
play an important role in the further improvement of
the legislative activity of the Legislative Chamber. At the
moment, it serves to ensure the openness and
transparency of the activities of the deputy corps.
International cooperation is strengthening
Strengthening international relations and developing
inter-parliamentary cooperation is one of the important
areas of activity of the Legislative Chamber.
In this regard, multifaceted and effective relations in the
sphere of mutually beneficial cooperation of the
Legislative Chamber with the parliaments of foreign
countries
and
international
organizations
are
consistently continued. Particular attention is paid to
the implementation of priority and important goals
defined in this area in the Development Strategy of the
New Uzbekistan and in the Strategy "Uzbekistan-2030".
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As a result, during the period of large-scale reforms
carried out in our country, the deputy corps became an
active participant in the foreign policy direction based
on the protection and promotion of the national
interests of our Motherland, developed on the
initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
and aimed at open, mutually beneficial and practical
foreign cooperation.
Uzbekistan effectively cooperates with the most
influential international parliamentary organizations of
the world - the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Inter-
Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Independent States.
Currently,
there
are
58
inter-parliamentary
cooperation groups in the Oliy Majlis that interact with
foreign
parliaments.
These
inter-parliamentary
cooperation groups serve as a permanent dialogue
platform for the further development of relations with
the legislative bodies of foreign countries and, in turn,
become a convenient mechanism for conducting an
open, constructive and lively dialogue with
representatives of foreign parliaments.
It should be noted that today a new institution has
emerged in the activities of the parliament. Namely,
this is the practice of developing and adopting "road
maps" by the Kengashes of the chambers of the Oliy
Majlis, aimed at solving important problems related to
the domestic and foreign policy of the country, and
carrying out work on their implementation. Such an
institution serves to increase the responsibility of the
people's representatives, while guaranteeing that the
parliament will not remain on the sidelines of large-
scale reforms.
CONCLUSION
In a word, the development of the main directions of
national parliamentarism in New Uzbekistan is in
harmony with the hopes and dreams of the noble
multinational people of our country.
The Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, relying
on the initiatives and ideas of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoyev, occupies an
important place in ensuring the stable development of
the country and the formation of genuine democracy
in the constitutional system of a democratic state.
These initiatives, aimed at democratizing the national
political system and the foundations of public
administration, strengthen the role and significance of
parliament in the life of our society.
The activities of the Oliy Majlis as an important and
independent institution play an important role in
ensuring the stable development of our country, the
formation of a truly legal state, and the creation of a
constructive and creative environment in our state.
