President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a constitutional law that transitions from a majoritarian to a mixed majoritarian-proportional electoral system in the republic, Asiaplustj.info reports.
The law, adopted by the Legislative (lower) chamber of the parliament on October 31 and approved by the Senate on November 24, 2023, has been published in the country's parliamentary publications, thereby coming into effect.
According to the law, elections to the Legislative chamber are conducted based on a mixed (majoritarian-proportional) electoral system.
It includes single-member and unified electoral districts. Seventy-five deputies of the lower chamber are elected from single-member districts through a majoritarian electoral system, while the remaining 75 deputies are elected from a unified district based on votes cast for political parties using a proportional electoral system (party list).
"The adoption of this Constitutional law serves the further expansion of the role of political parties in the activities of the parliament and local representative bodies, creating a legal basis for the introduction of the majoritarian-proportional electoral system for the formation of the deputy corps of the Legislative chamber," explained the Senate to Interfax.
Until now, Uzbekistan used a majoritarian electoral system, where candidates who received the majority of votes from voters in their electoral district were considered elected. All candidates for elections were required to represent active parties in the country.
The Legislative chamber of Uzbekistan consists of 150 deputies. Currently, there are five political parties active in the country.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 20, 2023