- –20 million eligible voters including 2 million youth are all set to elect their representatives
- –Upon arrival a warm welcome was accorded to Observers from Pakistan
BY RIAZ A MALIK
Mr Ghulam Akbar, Editor-in-Chief of National Herald Tribune withhis guide and translator at a polling station.
ISLAMABAD, December 20: A delegation of Election Observers from Pakistan has arrived in Tashkent on Friday. A warm welcome was accorded to the delegation upon its arrival at Tashkent airport. A fourteen-member delegation comprising of Senator Hidayat Ullah Khan , Chairman Inter- Parliamentary Friendship Group with Uzbekistan, M. Yaqoob Shaikh, Member National Assembly, Mr. Ghulam Akbar, Editor in Chief Daily National Herald Tribune, Maj Gen ( R) Khalid Ameer Jaffery, President Centre for Global and Strategic Studies, Col ( R) Khalid Tamour Akram, Executive Director Centre for Global and Strategic Studies, Mr. Rafey Malik, Security Expert, Irfan Shahzad, International Relations Expert, Professor Shabbir Ahmad, Peshawar University, Mr. Tahir Farooq, Vice President Journalists Association, Ms. Namrah Sohail, PTV, Shahid Malik, PTV, Ansar Mahmood Bhatti, Chief Editor Centreline Magazine and Dr. Mahmood ul Hassan, Expert on Regional Affairs.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Observers will be free to share their first hand eye witness accounts with the Uzbek authorities as well as the media. It is noteworthy that the Parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on 22nd of December and all the necessary arrangements for the free, fair and transparent polls have been finalized by the Election Commission of Uzbekistan.
20 million eligible voters including 2 million youth are determined to avail the opportunity to elect their representatives and are eagerly looking forward for the polling. In all 750 candidates including 350 women are in the run.
It is generally hoped that the newly elected Parliament will carry forward the reform agenda of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Meanwhile, talking to this scribe from Tashkent, Col. Khalid Tamour Akram and Mr. Ghulam Akbar after visiting some of the Constituencies expressed their complete satisfaction over the peaceful and transparent conduct of the polls . They also hailed the Election Commission of Uzbekistan for taking extra ordinary arrangements to this effect.
