“Public control over the budget will increase” – Expert of the constitutional commission

What change is planned?

Work is underway to improve the draft constitutional law “On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”. According to the project, Article 122 of the current Constitution is proposed to be changed in the following manner.

“The State budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan consists of the republican budget, the budget of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and local budgets.

Procedures for the formation and implementation of the State budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan are carried out on the basis of the principles of openness and transparency.

Citizens and civil society institutions exercise public control over the formation and implementation of the State budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The procedures and forms of participation of citizens and civil society institutions in the budget process are determined by law”.

“Public control over the budget will increase”

Khayrullo Ruzmetov, head of the Institute of Legislative Problems and Parliamentary Research under the Oliy Majlis, explained why this change is being made in an interview with Kun.uz.

“We are continuing reforms based on the principle of man-society-state. In this regard, budget funds play a major role in ensuring human interests.

These funds are formed from the taxes paid by citizens, if the budget is open and people participate in this process, it will be easier for them to find a solution to their problems. One of the aspects confirming that the changes are being implemented for the benefit of people is the introduction of these norms into the Constitution.

If the budget is open and transparent, people will have information. That is, how the budget is formed, what the funds are going to be spent on, how the allocated money is being used for the intended purpose, these issues can be controlled by citizens.

The introduction of the principle of openness and transparency in the formation of the state budget into the constitution should once again allow citizens to participate in this process, because it means that the funds belong to the people and indicates that a pro-people policy is being conducted.

In addition, we can interpret the change introduced in this article as the increase of public control over the budget. At the next stage, it is possible to change the laws in the sense that you will show citizens the funds spent by state organizations through mass media.

If citizens are informed about the process, they begin to influence. They demand justice, require control over illegally used money. This norm directly affects the strengthening of public control. To put it simply, this was considered one of the ways to involve the people in state management,” Khayrullo Ruzmetov said.

In conclusion, these amendments to the Constitution allow creating the necessary organizational-legal conditions and guarantees for formation of the state budget, determination of its revenue and expenditure components, involving citizens and civil society institutions in ensuring its implementation, their wide and active participation in this process, as well as implementation of public control.