Meeting of General Secretary Atanazar Arifov with U.S. Deputy Secratary of State Lorne Kraner
Visit of Mr. M. Salikh to the United States

Erk's Background and Goals

The ERK ( Freedom ) Democratic Party grew out of the Birlik (Unity) Popular Front of Uzbekis- tan which was started by Muhammad Salih and two of his friends in November, 1988. ERK took its name from a Turkistani nationalist party of the same name that was active among intellectuals in Central Asia in the 1920s.

The ERK party distinguished itself from the rest of the Birlik move- ment by stressing the principle of "Independence First" rather than the notion of "First Democracy, Then Independence" which had become the slogan of pro-Moscow factions of the movement. ERK was officially founded on April 11,1990, and Muhammad Salih was elected the party leader on April 30, 1990. The party's platform articulated the goals of independence for Uzbekistan, a multi-party democratic system, a market economy, private enterprise and kand reform. Prior to the establishment of Birlik and ERK, the only dissenting voices in the Uzbek SSR were found inside the republic's Writers Union.

Muhammad Salih, by profession a poet and writer, was an active member of this union and served as its Secretary between 1988 and 1991. Muhammad Salih ran as the ERK party's candidate for president of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991 and enjoyed a great deal of popular support. Although the national election commission of Uzbekistan gave Salih 12.5% of the vote, ERK leaders claimed fraud and estimated that Salih had actually gotten 52%.

The widespread public support for the new party, plus the fact that the party had recruited 54,000 registered members in 170 election districts throughout the country, caused the government to take severe repressive measures. ERK members were harrassed, the party's bank account was closed, property was confiscated, and party activitists were illegally imprisoned. The ERK party's headquarters were shut down and forced to move out of Tashkent, the capital city.

The ERK Democratic Party recognizes that Uzbekistan, like other former Soviet republics, is in very difficult transition period due to the breakup of the USSR. However, ERK claims that necessary reforms are not being implemented because the government is controlled entirely by former Communists. Those in power, says ERK, are using the excuse of the need for internal stability to prevent any move toward democratic reforms. New ideas are needed, says ERK, since the former Communists lack any incentives to change the way the country operated under the old system and the privileges they derive from it.

The ERK Democratic Party insists that state efforts to create a market economy and allow the people of Uzbekistan to participate in the political process, as well as care for human rights, are absolute necessity. Uzbekistan is the most important country of the Central Asian region, and developments in Uzbekistan have a major impact on its four neighboring Central Asian states. The so-called stability which the current rulers of Uzbekis- tan are working to preserve, says ERK, is a regression for the country and the region, not a forward development.

The ERK Democratic Party calls for the following reforms as national priorities for Uzbekistan:

1. The formation of a national state, army, and a national culture.
2. Creation of democratic institutions and a system of democratic administration.
3. Reform of state wage and pricing systems and subsidies.
4. Privatization of the land and the means of production which are curently in the hands of the state, and reform of management of enterprises.
5. Development of banking and insurance, and abolishment of the state monopoly on foreign trade and production.
6. Creating a legal structure as soon as possible as part of the infrastructure of a new free market economic system, and setting up of a social security system.