People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan explained

People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan
Native Name:O‘zbekiston Xalq Demokratik Partiyasi
Native Name Lang:uz
Lang1:Russian
Name Lang1:Народно-демократическая партия Узбекистана
Abbreviation:XDP
President:Ulugbek Inoyatov
Founder:Islam Karimov
Predecessor:Communist Party of Uzbekistan
Headquarters:Tashkent
Newspaper:Ozbekiston Ovozi
Youth Wing:Istikbol
Womens Wing:Faol Ayollar
Membership Year:2009
Membership:368,214
Ideology:Social democracy
Position:Centre-left
Colours: Purple
Seats1 Title:Legislative Chamber
Seats2 Title:Senate
Country:Uzbekistan
Footnotes:While nominally a centre-left, social democratic party, it is one of the five pro-government parties.
Green was the party colour until 2021.

The People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Xalq Demokratik Partiyasi, O‘zXDP. Russian: Народно-демократическая партия Узбекистана, НДПУ, Narodno-demokraticheskaya partiya Uzbekistana, NDPU) is a political party in Uzbekistan. It was founded in 1991 as the legal successor of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan. Under its founder Islam Karimov, it oversaw the dissolution of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic and the establishment of the Republic of Uzbekistan. After Karimov resigned from the party in 1996[1] and later formed the Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party, it lost its ruling party status.[2]

The party identifies with social democracy and centre-left politics, and is the main left-leaning party in the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan. In its statute, it promotes egalitarianism and a regulated social market economy within a welfare state, while supporting non-interventionism in foreign policy. Its core supporters are people who rely on social welfare, pensioners, people with disabilities, and employees;[3] despite this, it is one of the four parties who acts as a pro-government opposition,[4] and has done as such since the establishment of the Liberal Democratic Party.

History

The party was founded in October 1991 after the Communist Party of Uzbekistan voted to cut its ties with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It had been led by president Islam Karimov since its foundation until 1996, at which point Karimov stepped down and resigned his membership.[1]

Karimov created the Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP) in 2003, and despite self-identifying with different ideologies, the parties are widely seen no different from each other, with the UzLiDeP being created to give an illusion of a competitive multi-party system; this is supported by the fact that XDP remained supportive of Karimov's policies and retained his favor.[1] In 2013, Hotamzhon Ketmonov was elected chairman of XDP.[5] [6]

After the 2014–15 Uzbek parliamentary election, the party positioned at the parliamentary opposition of the centre-right, ruling party, UzLiDeP, and the Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party, a right-wing and moderate national conservative-oriented party.[3] Ketmonov ran as the party's candidate in the 2015 Uzbek presidential election, receiving 2.92% of the vote.[7]

In the 2021 Uzbek presidential election, Maqsuda Vorisova pledged to solve issues regarding education and medicine,[8] and ran in a series of platforms related to egalitarian and social priorities in spheres to living standards, justice and equality, and democracy,[9] which were seen to have correlated with the Nordic model.[10] Although losing the race to incumbent Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Vorisova became one of the runner ups in the election, earning second place with 6.6% vote share, making her the first person since Muhammad Salih in 1991 to gain more than 5% as a highest-performing non incumbent in the presidential vote.[11]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

ElectionCandidateVotes%Votes%Result
First roundSecond round
1991Islam Karimov8,514,13687.14Elected
2000Abdulhafiz Jalolov505,1614.34Lost
2007Asliddin Rustamov468,0643.27Lost
2015Khatamjan Ketmanov552,3092.96Lost
2016669,1873.80Lost
2021Maqsuda Vorisova1,075,016 6.65Lost
2023Ulugbek Inoyatov629,116 4.05Lost

Legislative Chamber elections

Election Seats +/– Position
1994–95 69 2nd
1999 20 2nd
2004–05 21 2nd
2009–10 4 2nd
2014–15 5 3rd
2019–20 5 4th

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lansford, Tom. 2015. Political Handbook of the World 2015. SAGE Publications. 9781483371580. 2 November 2021. Google Books.
  2. Web site: Gunnar Songstad. Nils. 2005. The Republic of Uzbekistan: Parliamentary Elections – 2004. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120416213630/http://www.jus.uio.no/smr/english/about/programmes/nordem/publications/nordem-report/2005/0505.pdf. 16 April 2012. Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. 2 November 2021.
  3. Web site: What ideas do political parties advance?. The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Nations. 15 November 2016. 1 November 2021.
  4. News: Abdurasulov. Abdujalil. 20 December 2019. Questions over Uzbekistan's new era of 'openness'. BBC News. 1 November 2021.
  5. Web site: Biography of Hotamzhon Abdurahmonovich Ketmonov, the candidate for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. dead. 28 February 2015. Embassay of Uzbekistan in the United States. 4 August 2016. 8 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160808183310/http://www.uzbekistan.org/presidential-elections-2015/archive/3130/.
  6. Web site: Biography of Hotamzhon Abdurahmonovich Ketmonov, the candidate for the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 25 November 2016. The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Nations. 2 November 2021.
  7. Web site: Saipov. Zabikhulla. 19 January 2016. Quiet Changes In Uzbek Presidential Election Law Come As New Year's Surprise. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2 November 2021.
  8. News: Presidential candidate Maksuda Vorisova: I am an ordinary mother, an ordinary woman who knows about the problems of the people from the inside. Uzreport News. Uzreport TV. 8 August 2021. 2 November 2021.
  9. Web site: Saylovoldi dasturi. Electoral program. People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan. uz. August 2021. 2 November 2021.
  10. Web site: Skandinavskiy sotsializm. Kakoye budushcheye dlya Uzbekistana gotova postroit' kandidat v prezidenty Maksuda Varisova. ru:Скандинавский социализм. Какое будущее для Узбекистана готова построить кандидат в президенты Максуда Варисова. Scandinavian socialism. What future for Uzbekistan is the presidential candidate Maksud Varisova ready to build?. Podrobno. ru. 18 September 2021. 2 November 2021.
  11. News: Uzbekistan: Mirziyoyev romps to victory, but with reduced vote share. Eurasianet. 25 October 2021. 2 November 2021.