At the press centre of Samarqand electoral district No 7 for the elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a meeting has taken place between members of the district electoral commission and representatives of regional mass media.

At the press centre of Samarqand electoral district No 7 for the elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a meeting has taken place between members of the district electoral commission and representatives of regional mass media.

The chairman of Samarqand district electoral commission No 7, F.Toshev, and others have said that mass media play an important role in holding elections on the basis of such democratic principles as equality, openness and transparency.

The law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan” specifies mass media’s coverage of electoral processes.

“Right at the first session of the district electoral commission, there was discussion of the issue of establishing a press centre comprising 11 people. At the moment, a group for work with mass media and for coverage of the elections on the Internet is functioning here. So far the district electoral commission has accredited more than 80 journalists and technical workers for coverage of the electoral process. They inform the population in a timely manner about the work and sessions of the district electoral commission and about the pace of the election campaign in the region. Decisions of the district electoral commission on forming electoral precincts in the territory of the region and on confirming the composition of precinct electoral commissions were also published in the press. More than 300 programmes and articles have already been broadcast and published on television and radio, in newspapers and magazines and on Internet sites. Three briefings and a conference have been conducted,” says a member of the press centre, Hakim Jorayev.

During the meeting, work on coverage of the electoral process in mass media was analysed, and issues to which attention should be paid in next stages of preparation for the elections were discussed.