On November 14, a meeting of initiators of creating an environmental political party took place in Tashkent. The session was attended by representatives of social organizations in the field of ecology and health, scientists and experts, teachers of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions, and media people.
The participants discussed issues related to the formation of an organizational committee for the preparation of constituent documents of a new political party, the formation of its membership and the convocation of a constituent congress, as well as the composition, leader, location of the organizing committee and the date for convening the constituent congress.
As the speakers noted, our country is currently at a new stage of reform and modernization, the purpose of which is to protect the interests of a person, including his rights to a favorable environment.
It was noted that neglect of ecology, over-exploitation of natural resources and ignoring environmental imperatives in the previous epoch led to a number of global and regional environmental problems, including the shrinking of the Aral Sea, desertification, degradation of land and water resources, deterioration of the plant and animal gene pool in the world, reducing biodiversity, the formation of huge amounts of industrial, household and other waste. These problems against the backdrop of ongoing climate change appear even brighter and stronger. In this regard, for modern Uzbekistan, special importance is attached to the issues of environmental protection and improvement, preservation of natural resources and ecosystems.
The Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan created for these purposes, quoting for it 15 places in the Legislative Chamber, was an important step in activating the general public in the matter of environmental protection.
However, in his Message to Oliy Majlis on December 22, 2017, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that there was a need to abandon the quota of seats in the Legislative Chamber for representatives of the Ecological Movement and create equal conditions for all political forces, which will increase healthy competition in the political arena and will serve securing the legal status of the Ecology Movement as a separate political force.
In this regard, an urgent requirement of time was the creation of a political party in Uzbekistan with an environmental focus, designed to unite all the forces of society to carry out systemic changes in the field of environmental protection and public health, ensuring the rights of present and future generations of Uzbek citizens to living in favorable conditions. The main goal of this political party will be to help ensure that environmental protection becomes a matter for the state, society, and every citizen.
During the discussion, it was also noted that in many countries of the world there is a practice of creating political parties of ecological orientation. For example, in developed countries there are green parties that set themselves the goal of winning seats in representative bodies in order to seek solutions to environmental issues. Moreover, in recent years, ‘green’ have achieved considerable success, so they are represented in the European Parliament.
The meeting participants unanimously supported the proposal to create an environmental political party uniting all the forces of society for systemic changes in the economy, social sphere, environmental protection and health of citizens, with the goal of ensuring sustainable development, protecting the rights of present and future generations of Uzbek citizens to live in favorable conditions.
At the meeting, an organizing committee was formed to create an ecological political party of representatives of the public committed to the protection of the environment and public health, and the rational use of natural resources, which was led by the head of the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan, Boriy Alikhanov. The organizing committee is tasked with developing a “road map” for the creation of a party, constituent documents, and other organizational and legal procedures.
After a thorough discussion of the proposals and opinions, it was decided to name the new party – the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan.
Without a doubt, the creation of a new party will exacerbate the struggle in elections at all levels, especially in parliamentary ones. And traditional parties will have to intensify their activities, make significant adjustments to it.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
