Excerpts from report by the Uzbek newspaper 'Turkiston'
[Newspaper headline] We are not indifferent to the country's destiny

Today we present answers by the secretary-general of Fidokorlar
[Self-Sacrificers] National Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, Erkin
Norbatayev, to the questions of the editorial staff [of `Turkiston'].

1. What kind of attention does the programme of your party pay to the
problems of youth?
2. To your view, what measures should be taken to settle these
problems?
3. What is the difference between your party's programme and the
programmes of other parties?
4. What is being done to secure a victory for your party in the
elections and to occupy the majority of seats in the Supreme Assembly?
5. What are your wishes for young voters?

1. Nine years have passed since our country became independent.
[passage omitted: the republic's leadership paid a great deal of
attention to the social protection of the population]
However, the process of liberating our youth's minds from the negative
consequences of 130 years of Russian colonialism is not an easy job. No
attention was paid to youth who have not yet found themselves in life and
have not formed an outlook, and a kind of empty space has been formed up in
their minds. For this reason such negative phenomena as religious extremism
and drug addiction attracted young boys and girls who had a weak will.
Existing political parties have not been paying proper attention to these
problems. One can say that 16th February tragedy [bomb explosions in
capital city Tashkent] was also the result of those problems. We think that
the most important tasks of the Fidokorlar party are to resolve the youth
problems, to develop a sense of patriotism, a devotion to the motherland,
and a respect for national values and our culture in the minds of young
boys and girls.

2. [passage omitted: various meetings were held at localities which
discussed topical problems of youth] In particular, a meeting against drug
addiction which was held in Surkhandarya Region which discussed the
negative consequences of drug addiction to human health and to society, and
ways of rooting out the problem. Meetings in Kashkadarya Region raised
issues of bribery, in Samarkand Region we considered the issue of setting
up youth tourism, and in the town of Margilan [eastern Fergana Region] we
discussed the fight against dogmatism. [passage omitted: the party
conducts regular meetings with youth and it is not an election campaign, it
is permanent]

3. We have been repeating again and again that our party will fight for
power. This is the principle difference between the Fidokorlar party and
the other parties. [passage omitted: if we do not fight for power the problems that we
have been raising will remain on paper only]

4. There are specific ways of working with youth. These include, in
particular, organizing various meetings and measures. Our main purpose
proceeding from this is to educate and prepare independent-thinking and
spiritually-rich young people for the motherland. [passage omitted:
implementation of this process takes much time]
There is no doubt that should our party win more seats in the Supreme
Assembly, we will make our contribution in settling issues on a state
level, in carrying out economic and political reforms and finally in
solving many problems connected with the youth.

5. That the majority of young boys and girls will participate in 5th
December [parliamentary] elections for the first time. With this they will
determine their destiny and the country's future. I would like the youth to
be more active in the political life of the country. I would like them to
have their own point of view and vote for people who take care of the
country's future and think of the people's benefit. [p3]

Source: 'Turkiston', Tashkent, in Uzbek 27 Nov 99 p*
BBC Mon CAU 291199/** KG/AM