The Senate at its meeting on Wednesday passed a bill expanding the rights of parliamentary opposition which has now been sent to the president for review.
Today, the bill has proposed to grant the parliamentary opposition the right to submit an alternative version of bills before the first reading of the bill on the same matter, as well as the draft resolution of the Legislative Chamber.
As per the bill, it could add to the minutes of the plenary meeting of the Legislative Chamber its special opinion on the matters under discussion, and also will be entitled the guaranteed participation of its representatives in the conciliation commission on the law rejected by the Senate.
The bill provides for additional powers for factions of political parties that have declared themselves opposition, with the aim of strengthening parliamentary control and political pluralism.
The amendments were developed after the address of the President on November 18, 2024, when he proposed increasing the number of guaranteed rights of the parliamentary opposition from 3 to 6.
"In the new era, parliament should become a real home of the people, and its lower chamber - a generator of ideas, an arena of healthy competition, discussions and debates," the head of state said.
According to the bill, the parliamentary opposition faction shall be entitled to:
- hold one position of committee chairman and two positions of deputy committee chairmen in the Legislative Chamber;
- submit an alternative version of the bill or its parts before the second reading;
- submit at least one question quarterly as part of the "government hour" and parliamentary inquiry.
The bill has proposed to amend six laws, including the constitutional the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis Law and the Increasing the role of political parties in governing the state Law, as well as the Parliamentary control Law, Political parties Law and others.
The developers noted that the experience of about 20 countries, including Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Great Britain, Malaysia and Portugal, was studied when preparing the bill.
"The passing of the bill is important for the development of bills that meet the public interest. In addition, granting additional rights to the parliamentary opposition faction will help strengthen the pluralism of opinions and positions in parliament," said Senator Zumrad Bekatova.
According to her, this will also increase the effectiveness of lawmaking and parliamentary control, as well as strengthen the guaranteed rights of the parliamentary opposition.
Earlier in May, the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan declared itself a parliamentary opposition after UzLiDep (Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Liberal Democratic Party) and the Milliy Tiklanish Democratic Party merged to form the Progressive Bloc.
Earlier, in July 2023, in his inauguration speech after the elections, Shavkat Mirziyoyev stated that the activity of a constructive opposition would be guaranteed in Uzbekistan.
