THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATIONS AND RESEARCH (ISSN- 2642-7478)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE08
50
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajiir
PUBLISHED DATE: - 15-08-2024
DOI: -
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajiir/Volume06Issue08-05
ANALYSIS OF IMPLEMENTED REFORMS TO
IMPROVE LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN
UZBEKISTAN
Shodmonov Bakhtiyor Abdullaevich
Doctoral student of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic
of Uzbekistan
INTRODUCTION
Since the beginning of the reform process in
Uzbekistan, the greatest attention has been paid to
the improvement and modernization of state and
community administration. Because, if the public
and society management is systematically and
properly organized, such a state can ensure the
safety of its citizens, the rule of law in the state, the
criteria of social justice, economic well-being and
the development of civil society. In order to
improve public administration, first of all, it is
necessary to improve local administration and the
activities of local administrative bodies. It is a fact
proven in the experience of many countries.
Therefore, in the framework of the reforms being
implemented in Uzbekistan, the development of
local governance, in particular, the issue of
improving the activities of local councils, is the
main area of focus in the updated constitution,
laws, government decisions, presidential decrees
and decisions.
METHODS
The Constitution and laws of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, decrees, decisions and speeches of the
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan as a
methodological source were used in the article.
Content analysis, as well as the methods of analysis,
synthesis, historicity and logic of scientific
knowledge were used in the analysis of the reforms
implemented in Uzbekistan to improve local
governance.
DISCUSSION AND RESULTS
This article analyzes the organizational and legal
basis of the reforms implemented in New
Uzbekistan to improve state administration, as well
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Abstract
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATIONS AND RESEARCH (ISSN- 2642-7478)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE08
51
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajiir
as local administration.
During the past period, about 300 laws and more
than 4,000 decisions of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan aimed at the fundamental
reform of all spheres of state and social life were
adopted within the framework of the Action
Strategy for the five priority directions of the
development of our country in 2017-2021. Also,
systematic work was carried out to ensure human
rights, strengthen the accountability and openness
of state bodies, and increase the role of civil society
institutions, mass media, and the political activity
of population and public associations. [1].
The first priority direction of the action strategy is
called "Priority directions for improving the
system of state and society construction" and it
includes "Strengthening the role of the Oliy Majlis
and political parties in deepening democratic
reforms and modernization of the country",
"Reforming the state management system",
"Community tasks such as "improving the
management system" were defined and significant
work was done in this regard.
On September 8, 2017, in 2017-2021, in order to
achieve the goals of the action strategy on the five
priority directions of the development of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, creating a completely new,
effective and high-quality operating system of state
administration, the coordination of state
administration bodies and local executive
authorities, "Concept of Administrative Reforms in
the Republic of Uzbekistan" was adopted. In the
concept, a number of systemic problems and
shortcomings that hinder the successful
implementation of the state policy on
modernization of economic sectors and social
sphere, comprehensive development of regions,
improvement of the standard of living and well-
being of the population were indicated. The main
directions and tasks of administrative reforms to
eliminate the specified systemic problems and
fundamentally reform the state administration
system were determined [2].
On January 28, 2022, the Development Strategy of
New Uzbekistan, consisting of 7 priority areas and
100 goals for the period 2022-2026, was adopted
based on the principle "From the Actions Strategy
to the Development Strategy" as a logical
continuation of the ongoing reforms.
In the Action Strategy, the reforms in the field of
public administration are mainly aimed at the top
management, while in the Development Strategy,
the reforms in the field of public administration are
mainly aimed at local administration, that is,
reforming the activities of local representation and
local executive bodies. In the 2nd goal of the
Development Strategy, tasks such as turning the
Councils of People's Deputies into the main link in
solving the existing problems in the regions, and in
the 3rd goal, adapting the institutional basis of the
activities of local state authorities to the
requirements of the times are set [3].
Local state power is a constitutional legal
institution. The main reason for this is that Chapter
XXI of the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan is entitled "Basics of local state power.
Self-government bodies of citizens", which defines
the organization procedures, powers, status and
tasks of local state power bodies. is broken.
As a result of the national referendum on April 30,
2023, in the new version of the Constitution of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, the rule that governors
head the Councils of People's Deputies was
removed, and the introduction of the rule that "the
Council of People's Deputies is headed by a
chairman elected in accordance with the law from
among its deputies" is a bold step towards
strengthening democracy [4]. Because the 11th
article of our current constitution stipulates that
"the system of state power of the Republic of
Uzbekistan is based on the principle of division of
power into legislative, executive and judicial
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATIONS AND RESEARCH (ISSN- 2642-7478)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE08
52
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajiir
power" [5], and these three powers operate
independently of each other. The fact that the
governor heads the executive power of the
respective region and also heads the Councils of
People's Deputies, which is the div of
representative power in the region, was an
inappropriate phenomenon in democracy.
Articles 100 and 101 of the newly revised
constitution clearly define the powers of the
Councils of People's Deputies and the powers of
governors of regions, districts, and cities. First, the
powers of the Councils of People's Deputies and
governors of regions, districts, and cities were
generally interpreted as "Local authorities".
Separating and clearly defining the powers of these
two bodies was a very important reality in
increasing the efficiency of local state bodies.
In this regard, the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed the
following opinion: "In recent years, we have
transferred many powers to the Oliy Majlis, and we
are thinking of expanding them further. Deputies
are also participating in the appointment of a new
minister, getting acquainted with the plans and
approving them" [6]. Accordingly, the powers of
the Councils of People's Deputies, which are local
representative bodies, have been expanded, and
the transfer of most of the powers of governors to
the Councils is a logical continuation of the reforms.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issued a decision on
the development of local administration "On
further improvement of the activities of local
executive authorities" from the first days of his
election to the presidency. In the decision
announced on December 22, 2016, increasing the
efficiency of the activities of local executive
authorities, further improving and strengthening
the
organizational
structure,
ensuring
comprehensive development of regions, further
stimulating the development of the social sphere,
optimal deployment of production forces,
communication with the population, In order to
protect their interests, a number of important tasks
were defined in order to consistently improve the
standard and quality of life based on the study of
their needs and requirements, and to effectively
organize the implementation of the state policy on
youth [7].
However, the activity of local state authorities is
still regulated by the law adopted in the early days
of independence, which reduces the effectiveness
of the reforms.
In his address to the Oliy Majlis dated December 29,
2020, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Shavkat Mirziyoyev stated that "Local authorities
and councils are working on the basis of the law
adopted 27 years ago, that is, when the institution
of the governor was first introduced. Considering
that this document does not completely meet the
requirements of our current reforms, it is
necessary to fundamentally update it" [8].
Although the new version of our constitution has
updated the norms of local state authorities and
strengthened democratic principles, the activities
of local state authorities are still regulated by the
Law "On Local State Authority" adopted on
September 2, 1993. This does not correspond to the
updated constitutional and legal conditions.
Therefore, in order to further improve the
activities of local government bodies, draft laws
"On Local Representative Bodies" [9] and "On Local
Executive Power" [10] were developed and
submitted to public discussion, but these bills have
not yet been discussed in the Legislative Chamber
of the Oliy Majlis.
The draft law "On Local Representative Bodies"
contains some of the most important and
noteworthy aspects. For example, they are the
following: the limited influence of the governors on
the work of the Council, the introduction of the
position of the Chairman of the Council and his
deputies to lead the Council, the introduction of the
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATIONS AND RESEARCH (ISSN- 2642-7478)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE08
53
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajiir
corps of deputies who work on a permanent basis
in the local Council, the accountability of the
governors to the representative power becoming a
reality and, as a result, also at the local level, the
principle of separation of powers is that conditions
are being created for more efficient operation. In
addition, the consideration of the opinions of party
groups in nominating the chairman of the Council
and their deputies will cause political parties to pay
more attention to local elections. Therefore, the
draft law will have an important place in improving
the activities of the Councils of People's Deputies as
a logical continuation of the administrative reforms
being carried out in our country.
The draft law "On Local Executive Power" was
developed on the basis of democratic principles in
accordance with today's requirements. It is
particularly noteworthy that the head of the
executive power in the draft law and the procedure
for appointing him, the candidate of the governor,
as the case may be, shall be elected by the political
party that won the most seats in the elections to the
Councils of People's Deputies, or by several
political parties that won the most seats in the
same number of seats. the norm on the proposal
from among the party members, the possibility of
expressing a vote of no confidence in the
governors, the establishment of the procedure and
evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of the
performance of the heads of the executive power,
the norm on the public discussion of draft
normative legal documents of the local executive
authorities, the local state power, the transparency
of the activities of the bodies is determined.
The adoption of the newly revised Constitution of
the Republic of Uzbekistan by popular vote in the
referendum held on April 30, 2023 served to
strengthen the constitutional foundations of the
establishment of New Uzbekistan.
At the same time, in the updated constitutional and
legal conditions, it is required to improve the main
directions of our country's development and bring
the ongoing large-scale reforms to a new stage [11].
Therefore, it is necessary to realize the desire of
our people to build a free and prosperous, powerful
New Uzbekistan, to create all opportunities for
every citizen to develop their potential, to create a
healthy, educated and morally mature generation.
"Uzbekistan - 2030" strategy of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan was adopted on September
11, 2023 in order to educate, to form a strong
economy that has become an important link of
global production, to guarantee justice, the rule of
law, security and stability.
The "Uzbekistan - 2030" strategy consists of 5
sections and 100 goals that are considered the
most relevant for New Uzbekistan. Prior to this,
regulatory documents containing the strategic
goals of New Uzbekistan, such as "Actions Strategy
" and "Development Strategy ", paid special
attention to the improvement of local governance.
Two goals of the "Uzbekistan - 2030" strategy are
dedicated to this issue
In particular, the 75th goal of the "Uzbekistan -
2030"
strategy
is
called
"Turning
the
representative bodies of local state power into a
real "voice" of the people." It completely abolished
the practice of governors leading the local council,
clearly defined the legal status, main tasks and
functions of the chairman of the council, as well as
the scope of responsibility, created the necessary
conditions for public participation in the activities
of local councils, widely involved civil society
institutions, and gradually expanded their
activities, tasks such as digitization, revising more
than 300 functions of local councils and canceling
the ones that are not unique, systematizing more
than 500 legal documents related to the activities
of local councils have been set.
The 76th goal of the "Uzbekistan - 2030" strategy is
called "Transforming the activities of executive
bodies of local state power and establishing
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATIONS AND RESEARCH (ISSN- 2642-7478)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE08
54
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajiir
territorial management based on the principle of
serving the interests of the population." Based on
this goal, it is necessary to determine the clear
boundaries of the tasks and functions of the
governors at the regional and district (city) levels,
to form local executive authorities based on
democratic principles, to create the legal basis for
their early dismissal, to increase the role of
governors in determining the state units and
structures of regional executive bodies, formation
of the "registry of powers" for the tasks (functions)
performed in the regions, optimization of more
than 70 overlapping functions of hokimities and
departments of ministries, canceling those that are
not specific to their activities from among more
than 500 tasks assigned to hokimities, Tasks such
as the systematization of more than 500 legislative
documents related to the activities of the
hokimities have been set [12].
The Presidential Decree No. PD-28 "On measures to
increase the efficiency of the activities of local state
authorities" adopted on February 2, 2024 became
an important stage in the development of the
activities of representative bodies of local state
authorities in Uzbekistan.
In the decree, it was confirmed that tasks and
functions can be assigned to local councils only by
legal documents, and state authorities and
management bodies are not allowed to interfere in
the activities of local councils. In addition, in order
to increase the role of local Councils in solving
important issues in the life of the state and society,
systematization of the powers and functions of the
Councils of People's Deputies, transfer of a number
of powers to local Councils and regulation of the
activities of local state authorities based on the
principle of "Strong Council, accountable and
initiative hokim" and the "road map" on the
improvement of legislative documents was
approved [13].
In addition, the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, together with the Cabinet
of Ministers, was assigned the task of developing
the concept of development of the activities of
representative bodies of local state power in
Uzbekistan until 2030 by October 1, 2024. In the
development of the concept, it is aimed to inculcate
advanced democratic principles into the activities
of local councils by attracting leading experts from
foreign
countries,
studying
international
experience, and thereby raising representative
democracy in Uzbekistan to a higher level.
CONCLUSION
To sum up, after the reform process began in New
Uzbekistan, great attention is being paid to
improving the state administration system. If we
look at the experience of most developed countries,
we can see that the goal of improving public
administration was achieved through the
development of local administration and the
activities of local administration bodies. It should
be noted that the improvement of local
administration in our country is carried out
consistently and systematically. First, the "Actions
Strategy" followed by the "Development Strategy"
and the "Uzbekistan-2030" strategy, adopted this
year, set systematic and clearly planned tasks for
improving the activities of local government,
executive and representative bodies of local
government. The Law "On Local State Power",
which was adopted in 1993 and is still in force,
does not allow effective implementation of these
tasks. The new version of the Constitution of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, which was adopted by
popular vote in the referendum held on April 30,
2023, and the draft laws "On Local Representative
Bodies" and "On Local Executive Power" in the
updated constitutional and legal conditions. It will
be appropriate to improve it.
REFERENCES
1.
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan No. PD-4947 "On the Actions
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATIONS AND RESEARCH (ISSN- 2642-7478)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE08
55
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajiir
Strategy for Further Development of the
Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021" //
National database of legislative information,
01.05.2021,
No.06/21/6217/0409.
https://lex.uz/acts/-3107036
2.
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan "On approval of the concept of
administrative reforms in the Republic of
Uzbekistan", No. PD-5185 dated 09.08.2017.
National database of legal documents,
17.03.2021,
No.06/21/6188/0216.
https://lex.uz/docs/3331174
3.
Decree No. PD-60 of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Development
Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026" //
National database of legislative information,
29.01.2022,
No.
06/22/60/0082.https://lex.uz/docs/5841063
4.
Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
National database of legislative information,
01.05.2023,
No.
03/23/837/0241.//
https://lex.uz/uz/docs/-6445145
5.
Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
National database of legislative information,
01.05.2023,
No.
03/23/837/0241.
//
https://lex.uz/uz/docs/-6445145
6.
Address of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan to the Oliy Majlis on December 20,
2022.
//
https://president.uz/uz/lists/view/5774
7.
Resolution of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan "On further improvement of the
activities of local executive authorities",
Resolution No. PR-2691 of 12.22.2016.
National database of legal documents,
01.04.2022,
No.
06/22/95/0267.https://lex.uz/docs/3101493
8.
Address of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan to the Oliy Majlis of December 29,
2020.
//
https://president.uz/uz/lists/view/4057
9.
The draft law "On Local Representative Bodies"
// https://regulation.gov.uz/oz/d/74612
10.
The draft law "On Local Executive Power" //
https://regulation.gov.uz/uz/d/74600
11.
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan “On the strategy “Uzbekistan –
2030” No. PD
-158 // National database of
legislative information, 12.09.2023, No.
06/23/158/0694.
https://lex.uz/docs/6600413
12.
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan “On the strategy “Uzbekistan –
2030” No. PD
-158 // National database of
legislative information, 12.09.2023, No.
06/23/158/0694.
https://lex.uz/docs/6600413
13.
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan “On measures to increase the
efficiency of the activities of local state
authorities” No. PD
-28 // National database of
legislative information, No. 06/24/28/0099,
https://lex.uz/docs/6789350
