Bicameral parliament
(New as of 2004 elections; previously, it was a 250-seat unicameral parliament)

Senate (upper house): 100 seats. The president selects 16 deputies and 84 are elected by Uzbekistan's 14 regional councils. Its term is five years.

Legislative Assembly (lower house): 120 seats, elected by popular vote. Its term is five years.

What the Constitution Says:

Chapter VIII: Political rights

Article 31: All citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall have the right to participate in the management and administration of public and state affairs, both directly and through representation. They may exercise this right by way of self-government, referendums, and democratic formation of state bodies.

Article 32: All citizens shall have the right to engage in public life by holding rallies, meetings, and demonstrations in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The bodies of authority shall have the right to suspend or ban such undertakings exclusively on the grounds of security.

Article 33: All citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall have the right to form trade unions, political parties, and any other public associations, and to participate in mass

Article 34: No one may infringe on the rights, freedoms, and dignity of individuals constituting the minority opposition in political parties, public associations, and mass movements, as well as in representative bodies of authority.

Chapter XIII: Public associations

Article 56: Trade unions, political parties, scientific societies, women's and veterans' groups, youth leagues, professional associations, mass movements, and other organizations registered in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law, shall have the status of public associations in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Article 57: The formation and functioning of political parties and public associations aiming to do the following shall be prohibited: changing the existing constitutional system by force; coming out against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the republic, or the constitutional rights and freedoms of its citizens; advocating war or social, national, racial, and religious hostility; encroaching on the health and morality of the people; or any armed associations and political parties that are based on national or religious principles. All secret societies and associations shall be banned.

Article 58: The state shall safeguard the rights and lawful interests of public associations and provide them with equal legal possibilities for participating in public life. Interference by state bodies and officials in the activity of public associations, as well as interference by public associations in the activity of state bodies and officials, is impermissible.

Article 60: Political parties shall express the political will of various sections and groups of the population and, through their democratically elected representatives, shall participate in the formation of state authority. Political parties shall submit public reports on their financial sources to the Oliy Majlis or their plenipotentiary body in a prescribed manner.

Chapter XVIII: Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Article 77: All citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan who have reached the age of 25 by election day shall be eligible for election to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Requirements for candidates shall be determined by law.

From the election law:

Article 2: Universal suffrage
1. Political parties and citizens shall have the right to nominate candidates for deputy.
2. A political party may nominate candidates for deputy provided it is registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan no later than six months prior to beginning of the election campaign, and has collected at least 50,000 signatures of voters in support of its participation in the elections.
3. The Central Electoral Commission shall distribute approved forms of signature lists after the announcement of the start of the election campaign.
4. A political party may collect no more than 8 percent of the signatures of 50,000 voters in a single administrative-territorial unit (Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions, and Tashkent city).
5. The Central Electoral Commission shall deny participation in the elections to a political party in the event of forged signatures on the signature list.

Article 21:
Documents to be provided by the political parties for participation in elections. In order to nominate candidates for deputy, a political party shall, no later than 70 days prior to the election, submit to the Central Electoral Commission the following documents:
1. Application for participation in elections, signed by the chair of the party
2. A reference from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan confirming the registration of the political party occurred no later than six months prior to beginning of electoral campaign 3. Signature lists


Upon submission of the documents listed in the first part of this Article, the Central Electoral Commission shall issue a dated reference to the representative of the political party. On the basis of the documents submitted, the Central Electoral Commission shall make a final decision (within five days) whether to allow the party to run in the elections. A list of all the parties participating in the election shall be published in the national press.

Article 22: Nomination of candidates for deputy by political parties
1. The nomination of candidates for deputy shall begin 65 days prior to the elections and end 15 days later, 45 days prior to elections.
2. The nomination of candidates for deputy shall be performed by the governing bodies of political parties.
3. Political parties shall be authorized to nominate 120 candidates for deputy -- one candidate per electoral district. A person shall be nominated as a candidate for deputy in only one electoral district. The order of selection of candidates for deputy shall be determined by the political parties.
4. Political parties shall be authorized to nominate for deputy only candidates who are members of their party, or independent. Protocol shall be drawn of the nomination of a candidate for deputy.

Article 23: Nomination of candidates for deputy by citizens
Every citizen or group of citizens in possession of election rights may form an initiative group of voters -- comprising at least 100 voters of the respective electoral district -- to nominate a candidate for deputy.

An authorized representative of the initiative group of voters shall apply to the respective district electoral district with the request to register the group. The application must include:
1. A list of the members of initiative group of voters, including their family name, first name, patronymic, date of birth, residence address, and series and number of their passport
2. The result of a decision by the initiative group of voters concerning the appointment of an authorized representative, and an authorization letter, validated for the representative in the legally ordained order
3. A decision of the meeting of the initiative group of voters concerning the nomination of candidate for deputy. The information must include the candidate's family name, first name, patronymic, date of birth, profession, position, work and residence address, and party affiliation

The district electoral commission, having determined the conformity of the submitted documents with the provisions of this Law, will, within five days -- or in the case of second elections or elections to replace a resigned deputy of the Legislative Chamber, within three days -- make a decision to accept or deny registration of the initiative group of voters.

After an affirmative decision to register an initiative group of voters, its authorized representative shall be issued a corresponding registration card and approved forms of signature lists.

In case of a refusal to register an initiative group of voters, the district electoral commission shall provide the reasoning for its decision.

An initiative group of voters may collect voter signatures in support of candidates for deputy only after a registration card has been received by its authorized representative.

Voter initiative groups that nominated a candidate for deputy shall be obliged to collect signatures from no less than 8 percent of the total number of voters of the district, and the signatories must be proportionately distributed throughout every mahalla (commune), village, or aul (township).

The form of signature lists shall be determined by the Central Electoral Commission. Signature lists shall include family name, first name, patronymic, date of birth, profession, occupation, work and residence address, and party affiliation of the candidate for deputy.

Voters shall have the right to sign in support of only one candidate for deputy. The voter shall therein indicate his family name, first name, patronymic, year of birth (if voter is 18 years old, the day and month of birth is also necessary), place of residence, series and number of passport, and date of signature.

The signature list shall be endorsed by the member of the voter initiative group collecting signatures, and include the member's family name, first name, patronymic, place of residence, series and number of passport, as well the same information for the representative of the voter initiative group.

The collection of voter signatures shall be conducted in places of work, service, study, residence, pre-election events, and other venues where campaigning and collection of signatures is not prohibited by legislative acts. Any forms of coercion or bribing of voters by persons engaged in the collection of signatures shall be prosecuted in accordance with the law.

After the collection of signatures has been finalized, the authorized representative of the voter initiative group shall bring the signature list -- separated by each mahalla (commune), village, or aul -- to the respective district electoral commission. The district electoral commission shall verify the accuracy of the collection of signatures within a five-day period -- in the case of second elections or elections to replace a resigned deputy, within three days -- and shall bring the respective protocol to the Central Electoral Commission.

Article 24: Documents to be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission for registration of candidates for deputy
The leader of a political party or authorized representative of voter initiative group shall apply to the Central Electoral Commission with a request to register candidates for deputy. The application shall include:
1. The decision of the governing body of the political party, or of the meeting of the voter initiative group, to nominate candidates for deputy, including family name, first name, patronymic of the candidate for deputy, date of birth, profession, position, place of work and residence, party affiliation, and name and number of electoral district
2. The application of the candidate for deputy, consenting to run in the respective electoral district 3. The application of the candidate for deputy consenting to be relieved of his current occupation in the event of his election as a deputy of the Legislative Chamber

The Central Electoral Commission shall issue to the submitter of documents a receipt with the date and time the documents were submitted.

The Central Electoral Commission shall, within a seven-day period, verify and determine the conformity of the documents submitted with the provisions of this Law.

The Central Electoral Commission shall, in due order, inform the leaders of political parties and authorized representatives of voter initiative groups of any nonconformities or discrepancies of the documents submitted with the provisions of this Law.

Article 26: Registration of candidates for deputy
The Central Electoral Commission shall stop accepting deputy candidate registration documents from political parties and voter initiative groups seven days prior to the end of the registration period.

Persons nominated as candidates for deputy shall be issued a registration card in accordance with this Law.

The registration of candidates for deputy shall end 35 days prior to elections.

Within five days of the registration of a candidate for deputy by the Central Electoral Commission, the respective district electoral commission shall publish a notice of registration, indicating family name, first name, patronymic, year of birth, party affiliation, occupation, place of work and residence, as well as the political party or voter initiative group that nominated the candidate for deputy.

Article 27: Pre-election campaigning
Pre-election campaigning shall start on the day of registration of candidates for deputy by the Central Electoral Commission.

Candidates for deputy, political parties, and independent initiative groups shall be provided equal opportunities to use the media in the order determined by the Central Electoral Commission. The meeting of voters shall be organized by the ward electoral commission, and all candidates shall be provided equal opportunities. Local authorities, public organizations, and civil self-governance institutions shall: provide candidates for deputy with equipped premises; assist candidates for deputy with the organization of meetings with voters; and assist candidates to receive required data and information. Voters shall be informed of the time and venue of candidate meetings in a timely manner.

Political parties shall have the right to promote the program of their future work. The programs of parties and candidates for deputy shall not be directed against sovereignty, integrity, or security of the state, and shall not inflict harm to the health and morale of the people, contain war propaganda, ethnic hatred, racial or religious confrontation, or calls for coercive change of constitutional order or actions limiting the constitutional rights and liberties of citizens.

Campaigning accompanied by free or subsidized provision of goods and services (except information) to voters, or financial payments, shall be prohibited. Campaigning on election day shall not be permitted.

What the Election Law Says About the Senate

Article 50: Establishment of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan
1. The Senate (upper chamber) of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereafter referred to as "Senate") shall be the chamber of territorial representation and consist of the members of the Senate (Senators).
2. Members of Senate shall be elected in equal number: six persons each from the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the regions, and the city of Tashkent. Elections to the Senate shall be conducted by secret voting in the respective joint meetings of the deputies of the Jokargi Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, representative bodies of the local authorities of the regions, districts, and cities from these deputies.
3. Sixteen members of the Senate shall be appointed by the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan among citizens with substantial experience and achievements in science, art, literature, manufacturing, and other spheres of government and public work.
4. The term of senators shall be five years.

Article 53: Requirements for candidates for membership in the Senate
Deputies of the Jokargi Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and representative bodies of the local authorities who have attained the age of 25 on the day of elections and been permanent resident in the Republic of Uzbekistan no less than five years may become a candidate for membership in the Senate.