Democratic development and issues of providing security

June 01, 2007

As Central Asian countries are undergoing processes of public-political and socio-economic transformation, an understanding that on the modern stage processes of democratization are intertwined with the provision of stability and security is taking deeper root.

In this sense, it is becoming more and more important and opportune to study the experience of democratic development garnered both by the countries of the region and the world as a whole. The international community has shown particular interest in the experience of Uzbekistan which, after becoming independent, opted for the path of step-by-step and evolutionary liberalization of public-political life. The implementation of the national model of democratic transformation has allowed Uzbekistan to provide stability and security, and stable development. The said issues were discussed at an international conference titled "Democratic development and issues of providing security".

Organized by the Fund for Regional Politics jointly with the Indian Center for the Study of Agricultural and Industrial Development, the conference was attended by political scientists, experts and analysts from Central Asia, Great Britain, Israel, India, Iran, China, Pakistan, Russia, USA, France as well as by representatives of international organizations and diplomatic corps accredited in Uzbekistan.

The predominant idea of the reports delivered by conference participants was that "today democracy is not just a system of values, but also a system of legislative efforts and public, political, socio-economic institutions and mechanisms which are called to provide for the priority of human interests. This is also evidenced by the experience of Uzbekistan which, after gaining independence, chose its own way of democratic development".

Thereupon, the conference participants noted the ongoing wide-scale reforms aimed at the further democratization of state governance and modernization: democratic reforms of the parliamentary system, enhancement of the role of public organizations and, most importantly, political parties in the system of public and state construction; democratization of the media; liberalization of the judicial system, and other measures to ensure the protection of civil rights and freedoms, successive formation of a strong civil society. The participants also emphasized that the adoption of the Constitutional Law "On strengthening the role of political parties in the renovation and further democratization of state governance and modernization of the Republic" and amendments to the Constitution bear testimony to the deepening processes of liberalization and societal democratization. The fact that democratic reforms are being clearly embodied in public and political of the country is evidenced by numerous opinion polls which reveal a growth in the population's political and social activeness, a change of the character and contents of the activities carried out by the central and local authorities, and a broad participation by the institutions of civil society in the solution of crucial issues of socio-economic development.

As was noted by the conference participants, processes of democratization in Uzbekistan are visible not only public-political but also in the socio-economic spheres and have, thus, provided for a stable development of economic sectors such as industry, fuel and energy, agriculture, transport, and commerce. The participants also pointed out the successes achieved in the agrarian sector of economy which have provided land with its authentic owners - educated and active farmers.

Notably, the social component of the reforms in Uzbekistan and the implementation of wide-scale programs to develop education, healthcare, science and culture have been determined as a critical factor which is to provide stability and security and a sine qua non for further development and prosperity. According to experts, inter-faith and inter-ethnic tolerance, care of spiritual legacy and moral upbringing of the youth are the guarantee of stability and general concord.

The majority of the participants opined that Uzbekistan's experience proves that the reforms in the public-political and socio-economic sphere must be carried out in a step-by-step fashion with an account of the level of the population's public and political consciousness. Democracy cannot be "exported" from the outside and foisted by force, in which case the concept of democracy and its principles will be distorted. Stable democratic development may be achieved only if a particular country determines its own way of democratic development taking into consideration historical traditions, spiritual values and people's mentality. The assessment of this kind was voiced by the representatives of countries with different democratic traditions and historical past. In particular, this was noted in the speeches by Akbar Mubashar Javed, senior fellow of Brookings Institute (USA), Pierre Shabal, expert of the French Institute of Strategic and International Affairs, Ayesh Siddik, security and strategy issues analyst from Pakistan, Dvivedi Ramakant, scientific fellow of Russia and Central Asia Department of the Indian Institute of Defense Research and other participants.

The conference also discussed problems of providing regional security. It was said that effective counteraction against contemporary threats and challenges (i.e. terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and local conflicts) is the most crucial condition for the implementation of democratic, public-political and socio-economic reforms.