Uzbekistan Incorporates "Early Voting" In Election System, Learns From Malaysia

By Nabilah Saleh KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Uzbekistan, which will hold its parliamentary elections in December, will introduce the early voting system for its voters, which it learnt from Malaysia, Charge d' Affairs at the Uzbek embassy, Abror Fatkhullaev, said. He said that a number of amendments have been introduced by the country's Central Election Commission (CEC) in order to enhance the legal mechanisms of securing openness and transparency during elections. "For this year's elections, it will be our first time conducting early voting as per what we have learnt from Malaysia's general election held last year," he told Bernama in an interview in conjunction with the country's 23rd Anniversary of Independence (above). Another new system which will be incorporated in the coming elections will be the establishment of polling stations in places of detention, he said, adding that he anticipated these amendments to help make Uzbekistan a better nation. Elections to the lower house of the Oily Majlis (Parliament) of Uzbekistan is scheduled to be held on Dec 21. Fatkhullaev said that like the previous parliamentary elections held in 2009, observers from international institutions and foreign countries will be invited to monitor the elections. Speaking on bilateral ties, he said that both Uzbekistan and Malaysia have shared excellent diplomatic relations for the last 22 years. "We are happy with the current cooperation so far, especially with the high-level visit by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in May where leaders of both countries discussed and determined new perspectives of our relations," he said. He hoped that after the elections, which he described as "the face of the nation," bilateral ties would be further deepened with enhanced cooperation in trade and investments as well as education and tourism. Asked on the good turnout of voters during the 2009 elections, Fatkhullaev said it was an indication of the people's satisfaction with the current government's policy. He explained that Uzbekistan practised a "very people-friendly policy" where every year the government dedicated a special theme like "health" for example where programmes and issues regarding health would be thoroughly looked into and solved by the government. "This has actually made our people happy," Fatkhullaev said. In 2009, Uzbekistan's CEC reported that almost 91 per cent of the country's 17 million voters casted their ballots. Uzbekistan, with a population of more than 30 million people, is Malaysia's largest trading partner in the Central Asia region with total trade between the two countries recorded at about US$86 million. Currently there are more than 500 Uzbek students studying in Malaysia while 11,000 tourists from Uzbekistan visited Malaysia last year. Uzbekistan's diplomatic relations with Malaysia began in 1992, a year after the republic declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and joined a grouping of former Soviet republics known as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). (photoBERNAMA) --BERNAMA