Online petitions portal, Mening Fikrim (transl. My opinion) has been launched in Uzbekistan. The idea was initiated President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who proposed to create the platform "as an advanced form of democracy" in a State of the Union last December.
The site’s presentation was held on Friday in the Legislative Chamber. Through the portal, citizens can apply to the houses of parliament, as well as to regional, district and city councils of deputies. A petition must attract the required number of signatures to be delivered to the Legislative Chamber, the Senate or to a local council.
As Rahim Khakimov, director of the Institute of Issues of Legislation and Parliamentary Studies, said at the presentation, the petitioning systems of over 10 countries were studied and prior to its launch the site was tested by German experts.
How it works
Petitions, on matters which fall within the competence of the parliament and local councils may be posted on the portal.
To place a petition, one needs to be authorized through a single identification system (id.gov.uz) and fill out the form by selecting one of the available topics.
The petition must be supported by at least five other people who also need to be authorized through id.gov.uz. Only the citizens of Uzbekistan aged at least 18 years can generate and sign petitions.
After a petition is examined and approved by the moderator, the petition is published on the portal for signing.
Petitions are required to gather 10,000 signatures within 90 days, after which time the Parliament would review the petition and issue an official response on the site. Zhokargy Kenes of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city councils require at least 5000 sinatures, district (city) councils - no less than 1,000 votes.
Anyone authorized through id.gov.uz or Google, Yandex, VKontakte, Mail.ru and Odnoklassniki services may sign.
