A delegation headed by the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) V.I. Norov paid an official visit to Uzbekistan. A series of meetings with heads of ministries and departments are planned during the visit.

On July 8, The Secretary General met with the Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Z. Nizamkhodzhaev to to get updated about the course of preparations for the presidential elections.

At the beginning of the conversation, Nizamkhodjaev highly appreciated the multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and the SCO, including the regular participation of Uzbek representatives in the mission of the SCO member states in the parliamentary and presidential elections, and separately dwelt on reforms in the electoral system.

At the beginning of the conversation, Nizamkhodjaev expressed appreciation for multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and the SCO, including regular participation of Uzbek representatives in the mission of the SCO member states in parliamentary and presidential elections. He put a particular focus on reforms in the electoral system of Uzbekistan.

It was noted that this year was adopted a special law on amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan due to improvement of electoral legislation. Besides that was adopted a new law on amendments and additions to the election code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, that introduced a number of innovations into the electoral system.

The new law provides for consideration of complaints about the actions and decisions of election commissions exceptionally by the court, increasing the number of district election commissions members for the elections, reducing the amount of information about candidates included in the ballot.

These rules, introduced in line with the recommendations of the OSCE / ODIHR mission, will contribute to holding the elections in accordance with international standards and modern trends. The CEC Chairman Z. Nizamkhodzhaev also invited Secretary General V. Norov and the SCO observer mission to take part in the upcoming presidential elections as international observers.

In return, V. Norov expressed satisfaction with the changes and proposals by informing about the efforts to attract leading experts of the SCO member states to monitor important political processes.

The parties discussed the SCO activities, in particular in terms of development of the Central Asian region, raising the status of women in society, upgrading the Great Silk Road, China's foreign policy, and the experience of e-commerce.

The Secretary General stressed that, despite the pandemic, the global community is committed to democratic and secure elections and active participation of all sectors of society. The parties agreed to strengthen cooperation in the nearest future.

The Central Election Commission

Press–service