Blogger Kirill Altman, within the framework of the video project Alter Ego, talked with the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Oliy Majlis Sodiq Safoyev.
During the interview, he asked the official to tell about the development path of Uzbekistan.
“Historically, Uzbekistan has tried different ways of development – Korean, Turkish, the own way so-called Uzbek model. Which way are we going now? Does this one have a name?” he asked.
“Firstly, I don’t remember that Uzbekistan has ever used an exact copy of any model, neither Chinese nor Korean nor Turkish. We tried to determine what model the country was following, but then Uzbekistan always said that we have our own special path. This has always been a big question for me too. I have never acknowledged the term “the Uzbek model of development”. Basically, I believe that humanity has a common development principle. There are, of course, national peculiarities, but when it is defined under the term “own model of the economy” and the general laws of economic development are ignored, this cannot be accepted,” Safoyev said.
The First Deputy Chairman of the Senate also expressed his opinion on the new policy.
“Today, I think it is possible to formulate a new policy that is being pursued. It was initiated by the President, and this was unforeseen for many. The degree of changes that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev brought to the development of Uzbekistan was unexpected for me. Few people expected such a bold and breakthrough change in Uzbekistan. It is extremely simple. Secular democracy, open society and socially-oriented market economy,” he said.
The blogger asked how correct the current policy and model was, as the system still retained command-and-control methods.
“The model we are striving for, secular democracy, open society, including the development of civil society, social market economy, in my opinion, is the only correct one. There is no alternative. I will not quote Churchill’s words about democracy, that there is nothing better. It will already be trite. There was a scientist named Bernard Lewis. He said that there are 4 possible options for the development of society in our region. The first is socialism, but it was defeated. The second is nationalism as the creation of a national state, but this topic has been exhausted, it cannot be a mobilizing factor. Islamism, but we have seen where a society based on religious principles is heading. This is not the basis for progress. And secular democracy. If you name the fifth option, you will be a Nobel Prize winner. There is no fifth option,” Safoyev noted.
