At the meeting of the Club of Journalists taken place in Tashkent - which initiator of creation was the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation - Uzbekistan - nowadays being under government pressure - questions of covering the political processes in Uzbekistan were discussed.
It has been told, that the existing political system is arranged under the current authority, five registered political parties enjoy the minimal support of the population, moreover, they do not differ from each other and all of them support the government. Opposition in a reality is forbidden, heterodoxies and free press are under pressure of the government and its power structures.
As has noted one of the participants, parties as, however, and many public organizations created by order from above, actually are the state structures and ruled by officials. As bright example serves the fact when party "Adolat" ("Justice") is suddenly created and this very day in parliament there is its fraction, and this happens without pre-election struggle and support of electorate. Or under the decision from above self-dismissed a party "Vatan tarakkiyoti" ("Motherland's Progress") too without consideration of opinions of people which have supported a party at elections. At the same time, Oliy Majlis - the parliament of republic is a set of the supernumeraries asserting laws earlier accepted by the government. The press has not informed up to citizens of any fact when at session of parliament someone from deputies has raised sharp topics of the day, for example, on discrepancy of a rise in prices on the goods and services to a level of incomes, about sharp polarization of a society, a consumer's basket, corruption.
The press is afraid of to cover these problems, as above it as the Sword of Damocles hangs threat of closing. The authority uses informal and legal ways of struggle against independent mass-media, in particular, refusal in accreditation to foreign journalists, registration of the nongovernmental organizations, non-pocket parties.
One of the journalists informed, that created under the decision of the government Liberal-Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (LDPU) is self-isolated from press, it is afraid to invite to the sessions the journalists. "For us the platform of LDPU, ideology, the concept on which is going to lean is unknown, and at the same time this party will apply for authority during parliamentary elections of 2004", the journalist has noted. There is an impression, that the places in parliament to members of LDPU are already guaranteed, and elections are not other than the theatre for the international public.
Other fear was stated by the experts who were present at the meeting of Tashkent club: more and more officials will want to represent the Senate and Legislative Chamber which will start to function with election of deputies in parliament. They will reflect interests of executive authority, clans which have put forward them in the state structures. So, there are less chances for independent candidates and those moved from initiative groups of voters. Certainly, such position leads to corruption and suppression of democratic values.
Journalists came to a conclusion about necessity of direct participation in a life of Uzbekistan, to be a conductor of democracy. It was offered to cover instead of censorship real events in the country, to give objective estimations to all events, including to parties, officials, authority, informing the population and stimulating them to active civic stand.
