The conference discussed the important issues of democratization of the state authority, reforming the judicial system, ensuring freedom of expression and information, improving the electoral system, formation and development of civil society institutes, market reforms and economic liberalization in Uzbekistan, as well as the experience of democratic countries in this field.

The forum was attended by over 200 foreign scientists, experts and public figures from about 40 countries, representatives of a number of international organizations and financial institutions such as the UN and its institutions, OSCE, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and others, as well as scholars and experts, members of the parliament of Uzbekistan, representatives of civil institutions and the authorities.

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov addressed the participants of the conference with a welcoming speech, which was read by First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Rustam Azimov.

The adoption by Uzbekistan of the Concept of further deepening democratic reforms and formation of civil society is a logical continuation of the reforms aimed at democratic renewal and modernization of the country, initiated after proclamation of independence, which is almost 20 years ago, the President said in his address.

Uzbekistan has chosen this path of building a democratic state with a socially oriented market economy and forming a civil society, carrying out reforms on the basis of its own “Uzbek model” of development, based on the known five principles. These are deideologization of the economy and its priority over politics, making the state the main reformer, ensuring the rule of law, implementation of strong social policy, and consistency of the reforms.

This model by itself had stemmed from the course of development of the country and had been motivated primarily by the complex situation that emerged after the Soviet Union’s collapse, when it was necessary to prevent the consequences of the complete destruction of the existing economic ties, to prevent catastrophic economic recession and rising unemployment, and to establish independent government institutions in a short period of time.

In the process of transition from the administrative-command to market-based economic management system Uzbekistan declined various revolutionary models of reform, “shock therapy” methods and deceptive impressions about the self-regulating market economy, sticking to the principles “Do not destroy the old house before building a new one”, and “Reform are not for the sake of reforms, but for the people”, the head of the state stressed in his address.

All this has allowed to ensure a gradual and cardinal change and renewal of the government and constitutional system, to create a solid and reliable foundation for sustainable and dynamic development of the national economy, political system, civil society, consistent improvement of living standards, and political and legal culture of the people.

Over the years of independence, cardinal changes took place in the ownership structure, and a real complex economy was formed where private property has received priority development. Small business and private enterprise took a deciding place in the economy, becoming the main source of filling the market with necessary goods and services, increasing incomes and improving welfare, and the most important factor in the growth of employment.

The gross domestic product of Uzbekistan over the past 20 years has grown nearly 3.5 times (2.5 times growth per capita) and the average salary has increased 14 times. The aggregate income of the population in real terms has grown 8.6 times. 47% of income comes from property and entrepreneurial activities.

The expenses of the state for social protection per capita have grown more than 5 times. Each year, about 60% of the state budget goes to health, education, communal sphere and other areas related to social protection. The average life expectancy over this period has increased from 67 to 73 years, maternal mortality rates have declined more than 2 times and children’s mortality 3 times.

At the same time, the President stressed, everything that has been done over the years of independence is only the beginning of a long and difficult path to a long-term goal the society and the state are facing, which is bringing the country to the list of the modern developed and democratic states, ensuring decent conditions for people’s living and securing a worthy place in the world community. The very logic and nature of the country’s development and the goal that has been set require to continue democratic reforms. At that, one should not give in to the euphoria and the sense of complacency, for this can cause huge irreparable damage to the progressive development of society and the image of the country.

All this has become the reason for the adoption of the Concept of further deepening democratic reforms and formation of civil society, which, in essence, is the program for further continuation of the modernization of the country at the fundamentally new stage of development of the state and society.

In Uzbekistan, market reforms and economic liberalization are carried out in close connection with consistent democratization of the political system, ensuring independence of the judiciary, freedom of expression and information, freedom of choice and development of the electoral system, as well as formation of civil society institutions, raising political awareness and legal culture of the citizens.

It is essential to ensure evolutionary development, continuity and consistency of transformations, non-acceptance of half-done reforms, turning them into some kind of imitation of democratic processes. Democracy – is our path, no matter how difficult and complicated it is, the President said in his greeting.

In particular, in the field of democratization of state administration we have to continue reforms aimed at consistent and systematic implementation of the constitutional principle of separation of powers, creation of effective mechanisms of checks and balances among them, coordinated functioning and cooperation in achieving tasks before the state and society.

The address notes that in accordance with the Concept, changes and additions have been made to certain articles of the Constitution, giving the political party with the most seats in the Legislative Chamber the right to propose the candidacy of the Prime Minister, introducing the institution of the no confidence vote to Prime Minister, the right of parliament to hear reports of the head of the government on topical issues of socioeconomic development, and several other principal innovations.

These changes will facilitate the creation of the legislative bases for further deep reform of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, strengthening the role of the parliament in the state and political system, create conditions for further increasing the role of political parties in the formation of executive bodies and implementation of parliamentary control over their activity, as well as significant increase of the political and inter-party competition.

As it is pointed out in the address, the deepening of the democratic reforms in the judicial area envisages continuation of works to ensure independence and autonomy of the courts, strengthen judicial control on the pre-trial stage, expand the area of implementation of habeas corpus institute, create effective mechanisms of checks and balances in the system law enforcement and controlling bodies, and decriminalize the criminal law.

In the field of democratic reforming of the information sphere, ensuring freedom of expression and information, it is planned to implement wide-scale tasks to ensure the openness of state authorities, strengthen independence and economic sustainability of the media, introduce market mechanisms and modern information and communication technologies. A number of other measures aimed at a more complete realization of the citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and transparency of the implemented reforms is planned.

In accordance with the Concept, it is planned to develop and implement a set of measures for further democratization of the independent electoral system in the country, ensure freedom of choice and develop electoral law.

As emphasized in the President’s welcoming address, large-scale work to implement the principle “From strong state to strong civil society” and further strengthen the role of civil institutions is planned. Among the activities is improving the legislation, strengthening social partnership between civil society institutions, self-governing bodies and the authorities in implementation of socioeconomic programs, protection of rights, freedoms and interests of various segments of the population, and establishing effective legal mechanisms for the civic control of the activities of the state bodies.

As part of the further deepening democratic market-oriented reforms and economic liberalization, as noted in Islam Karimov’s address, four interrelated strategic programs have been developed for 2011-2015, covering areas like industrial development, infrastructure, transport and communications construction, reforming and improving the stability of the financial and banking system, as well as the formation of a favorable business climate in the country. The implementation of these programs is aimed at ensuring long-term continuation of structural reforms and further improvement of the competitiveness in the economy.

At this stage, attention will be paid to increasing domestic demand, which in the global financial crisis conditions acquires importance as a stabilizing and stimulating factor for sustainable economic development.

As is pointed out in the address of the head of the state, the most important result of all activities to modernize the country is the fact that the policy of reform and democratization has received full support of the population, especially young people, which are a decisive force in reforming and modernizing the country.

The President expressed confidence that the conclusions and recommendations made during the international conference would find practical application in the work to deepen democratic reforms and develop civil society in the country.

UzA