Turkmenistan Picks Niazov's Successor
Turkmenistan Picks Niazov's Successor
Last Sunday’s presidential elections in Turkmenistan did not surprise, as some voters went for the only candidate who was a known quantity and others decided it was not worth showing up at the polls, report NBCentralAsia observers.
The elections, called after the authoritarian ruler Saparmurat Niazov died suddenly on December 21 last year, attracted more than 98 per cent of voters according to official figures. Some independent analysts questioned this number.
The Central Election Committee will reveal the ballot results on February 14, although few are hanging on tenderhooks given that acting president Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov has been the consistent favourite.
Despite a well-advertised election campaign involving six candidates, foreign observers did not monitor the poll, though a small team of OSCE and United Nations visited central polling stations in the capital city Ashgabat. Local election observers consisted of officials and state employees.
Officials were present at each of the 1,625 polling stations across Turkmenistan, noting “a high level of organisation” that “matched local legislation and international standards”.
Even though this was the first presidential election in Turkmenistan involving more than one candidate, NBCA observers in Ashgabat say this election was virtually identical to previous ones held under Niazov's rule.
Young first-time voters were given a book of the Ruhnama, a compilation of moral guidelines written by the late president, secret service officers were on duty at all polling stations, and university principals and school headteachers made the rounds in local villages forcing people to cast their ballot.
“They hammered on my door at 11 in the morning and demanded that I go to vote immediately,” a 35-year-old Ashgabat resident told NBCentralAsia.
According to Tajigul Begmedova, chair of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation, an émigré organisation based in Bulgaria, whose activists unofficially monitored the elections, voter turnout was low in rural areas.
Voting apathy was largely caused by a sense that the ballot’s outcome was predetermined, says Begmedova. She recalls what one of the voters told an observer: “[We have] no interest at all. Everything has been decided for us. We don’t know who these candidates are, we didn’t nominate them. This is why I didn’t even plan to go. My family and I, as well as my friends, spent the day at home.”
At the same time, it appears that some of the people polled by NBCentralAsia did made a conscious choice. “He [Berdymuhammedov] is the only one whose face shows some traces of intellect,” said one elderly librarian.
Some look forward to seeing Berdymuhammedov fulfll his election promises, hoping for pension and salary rises, access to the internet and education reform. Many said they were simply opting for the incumbent.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
The elections, called after the authoritarian ruler Saparmurat Niazov died suddenly on December 21 last year, attracted more than 98 per cent of voters according to official figures. Some independent analysts questioned this number.
The Central Election Committee will reveal the ballot results on February 14, although few are hanging on tenderhooks given that acting president Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov has been the consistent favourite.
Despite a well-advertised election campaign involving six candidates, foreign observers did not monitor the poll, though a small team of OSCE and United Nations visited central polling stations in the capital city Ashgabat. Local election observers consisted of officials and state employees.
Officials were present at each of the 1,625 polling stations across Turkmenistan, noting “a high level of organisation” that “matched local legislation and international standards”.
Even though this was the first presidential election in Turkmenistan involving more than one candidate, NBCA observers in Ashgabat say this election was virtually identical to previous ones held under Niazov's rule.
Young first-time voters were given a book of the Ruhnama, a compilation of moral guidelines written by the late president, secret service officers were on duty at all polling stations, and university principals and school headteachers made the rounds in local villages forcing people to cast their ballot.
“They hammered on my door at 11 in the morning and demanded that I go to vote immediately,” a 35-year-old Ashgabat resident told NBCentralAsia.
According to Tajigul Begmedova, chair of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation, an émigré organisation based in Bulgaria, whose activists unofficially monitored the elections, voter turnout was low in rural areas.
Voting apathy was largely caused by a sense that the ballot’s outcome was predetermined, says Begmedova. She recalls what one of the voters told an observer: “[We have] no interest at all. Everything has been decided for us. We don’t know who these candidates are, we didn’t nominate them. This is why I didn’t even plan to go. My family and I, as well as my friends, spent the day at home.”
At the same time, it appears that some of the people polled by NBCentralAsia did made a conscious choice. “He [Berdymuhammedov] is the only one whose face shows some traces of intellect,” said one elderly librarian.
Some look forward to seeing Berdymuhammedov fulfll his election promises, hoping for pension and salary rises, access to the internet and education reform. Many said they were simply opting for the incumbent.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
